


Dangan Ronpa XX: Afternoon Suspension

by Glitterpink



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Fan Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Fangan Ronpa, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-10-07 04:57:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 91,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17359415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glitterpink/pseuds/Glitterpink
Summary: Life after graduation isn't always easy.Eighteen former students are invited to an all-expenses-paid vacation at the brand new Hope's Rest resort, designed to reward and celebrate new Ultimates heading out into the world.But things are never as simple as that. Held hostage by a psychotic A.I., the graduates must fight their way through a brand new Killing Game, and uncover the truth behind the resort's subversion.





	1. Prologue - Welcome to Hope's Rest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being invited to the Hope's Rest resort on an all-expenses paid holiday was a dream come true for these graduates... but what unfolds on the island is nothing like what they expected.

_…_

_…?_

_… This is…_

I slowly became aware of my new surroundings. I was in… a dance hall? It was hard to tell – the room was still very dark, with three neon lights dancing in circles around me.  
My form was weightless, yet I couldn’t bring myself to move. Looking down, I couldn’t even see a floor beneath my feet.

I was dreaming. I had to be. I looked around again, and now saw the faint outline of several strangers dancing in the distance. Everyone was wrapped in their own light, their own beautiful colour decorating their existence.

But I couldn’t reach them. They continued to dance out of arm’s reach, spurred on by a melody pulsing from a DJ booth across the hall.  
Even the DJ himself danced, wrapped in a wondrous green light. Watching them, I felt a bittersweet joy well up in my chest. I wanted to dance with them, but no matter how much I tried, I simply couldn’t move of my own free will.

“Aw, what’s wrong, kitten?” A kind voice cooed in my ear, “Don’t you want to join the party?”  
I blinked, and a cat appeared in my view.

Not any ordinary cat – this cat was more like a mascot from a children’s TV show. Chubby and anthropomorphic, with multi-coloured fur and sweet, bright eyes.  
“Not to worry, kitten,” the cat floated around me, like a lazy seal circling a free meal, “It’s time for the speech!”

A sharp static noise snapped in my ears. The cat disappeared, reappeared on the stage across the room. A rainbow assortment of spotlights shone down as it produced a microphone from nowhere.

“Ladies, gentlemen, and kittens of all ages! Welcome to the grand opening of-!”

The static snapped again. Stars dotted my vision as the distant figures applauded the announcement. My heart started to race.

“We have gathered here- _he he he-_ here to celebrate, and to enjoy ourselves with a well- _well well well-_ deserved vacation! Our wonderful- _full of sh-_ facilities are specifically designed to cater to your every need, so relax, have fun, and let’s have an awesome holiday together!”

The lights and colours blurred together as I locked eyes with the robot. The static noise became a constant, droning note as sickly green electricity crackled around its body.

“Wait, what’s… what’s happening? Wha- _ah_!”

The beautiful colours of the robot cat’s body flickered, steadily turning pale and sickly. Even though it wasn’t human, I saw pure terror in its eyes as it stared into mine, unable to move.

““Wh- _wh_ -what’s h _ap_ p-happening to me- _e_!? It-hurts! It-it-t-t-“

A red light flickered behind the robot’s left eye.

“ _NYA-HA-HA-HA-HA!”_

The horrible laughter rang in my ears. Impossibly enormous mouths, full of sharp feline teeth, cackled at me. Edging ever closer, until…

“Can you hear me? Wake up!”

\--

**PROLOGUE**

**WELCOME TO HOPE’S REST**

\--

My vision was still blurry when I opened my eyes, but as I blinked the haze away, I realized I was staring at faces I didn’t recognise.  
Two girls were staring down at me, one stern and one gentle, but a strong familial resemblance between the two.

“Oh, thank goodness!” The gentle one said, smiling with relief.  
She looked a little younger than me, but her dress sense was even younger.  
I’d read about ‘sweet lolita’ outfits before, but it had never been my cup of tea. But this girl had taken a different meaning to the ‘sweet’ part; her adorable dress resembled a strawberry cake, with wafer patterns between the lace trims, and little strawberry accents on her sleeves and collar. Her hair was golden blonde, styled in two thick pigtails on either side of her head. When I looked closely, I saw small cupcakes decorating the ties.  
The girl helped me sit up, careful to support my shoulders.

“Are you okay? You took a lot longer to wake up than everybody else…”  
“Everybody… else?”

I looked around, but there was only the other girl kneeling at my left. While the younger one was gentle and caring, this girl was intimidating to the extreme. She was professionally dressed – a plain black business suit with a white button-down shirt. Even her hands, folded in front of her, were covered in black leather gloves. Her hair was short, pinned out of her face and behind her ears.  
“A lot of the others went to look around,” the sweet girl said, gently rubbing my shoulder as I shook the residual dizziness out of my head, “but we didn’t think you should be left alone in this scary place.”  
I looked around as she gestured to the room – ‘scary’ was a good word for it. The building looked like it was decades old, with faded paint cracking and peeling away from the walls. The windows were pitch black and cracked, with moth-eaten curtains hanging on their sides. Old streamers and confetti littered the floor, left behind from a long-ago celebration.  
The building itself felt like it had long died, and was inviting me to join it.

“Now that you’re awake,” the older girl said, rising to her feet and turning away, “we should meet up with the others.”  
“Wait,” I said, and she sent a cold look at me, “I don’t even know your names yet…”

The coldness in her eyes faded, and she sighed.  
“Setsuko Himura, Ultimate Bodyguard. Whether or not you know my name, you’re safe with me. And this is my younger sister.”  
“Suzume Himura, the Ultimate Baker!” Her sister smiled brightly. “Nice to meet you. What’s your name?”

“I’m… I’m Hazuki Satou. Nice to meet you both.”  
Suzume gave me a confused look, but Setsuko spoke before he had the chance to.

“Nice to meet you. Now, let’s get moving. I don’t want us staying here any longer than we have to.”  
I nodded, getting to my feet to follow her outside. Suzume quickly hurried after, grabbing Setsuko’s hand as she caught up.  
I smiled a little. It was always nice to see siblings that got along so well.

As we left the dancehall, we came to a large, open room. Three doors led out of it, but two were closed off by nasty-looking metal grates. In the centre of the room was a water fountain, but the water had dried up a long time ago, so it just looked like an awful statue of a sea serpent.  
Three people were inspecting the grate, while a fourth and fifth sat on the edge of the fountain, tapping at their phones.

Setsuko turned to me, drawing my attention with her sharp tone.  
“Hazuki, see what they’ve discovered. Suzume and I will look for the others outside.”  
“Take care, Hazuki. We’ll catch up with you later!” Suzume waved goodbye. Before I even had a chance to respond, the sisters left.

Well, I figured I may as well do as she said. After all, what else could I do? We were all trapped here… wherever here was.

The two on the fountain were the nearest, so I slowly approached them.  
It was a boy and a girl, both around my age. The girl was incredibly elegant and fashionable, but she didn’t even look at me as I came closer.  
As for the boy, he looked up at me and gave me a kind smile. “Finally awake, huh? Good. You feeling okay?”  
“As okay as I can, all things considered…” I smiled back.

His clothes were fashionable, but he’d decorated everything with his own personal touches. Something about him was energizing; my instincts told me to trust him.

“Yeah, it is kinda scary here. Well, don’t worry. There’s enough of us here we can work something out. I’m Daisuke Nagasaki, Ultimate Blogger.”  
Daisuke Nagasaki? I felt like I knew that name…

Ah, that’s right. I started following his food blog a few years ago; it certainly made it easy to get a quick meal during cram sessions around examination time.  
Daisuke winked at me, tapping his nose.

“I thought you looked like a blog kind of girl. Now all I need’s your name.”  
“Uh, sorry,” I smiled, my cheeks blushing, “I’m Hazuki Satou. Nice to meet you.”  
“Nice to meet you too, Hazuki,” he said, checking his phone again. When I saw his smile disappear, my heart sank.  
“Still not getting anything, even trying to use my own data. It’s like we’re in a black spot for service.”  
He looked to the elegant girl next to him, and she shook her head. She spared me a look, out of the corner of her eye.  
“Hazuki Satou, was it?”  
I nodded.  
“Michiko Ueda, Ultimate Socialite.”

I recognised her name, too. Even before she was named an Ultimate, Michiko Ueda rubbed elbows with all of the country’s rich and famous.  
But, like most socialites, I didn’t really know how  _she_ got famous to begin with.

By her sudden frown, I must have let that thought slip into my expression.

“One thing though,” she said, showing her phone to Daisuke, “I can still get to the news, but there’s no word of any disappearances.”  
“That’s weird,” Daisuke nodded, “you’d be one of the first headlines I’d expect… no, hold on, look,” He pointed with one hand, gesturing me to look too with the other. I leaned around his side.

He was pointing to the logo. Where there was normally an average newspaper icon, this icon looked like a black and white minimalist cat wearing glasses.  
“What on earth is that supposed to be?” Michiko glared at the image.  
“I’m guessing… a fake news app.” Daisuke said, checking his phone. “Look, I’ve got it too… what about you, Hazuki?”  
I hadn’t even thought to check my mobile until now. I rummaged through my purse to find it, but paused.  
There was something in there that hadn’t been in there before. I took it out, drawing Daisuke and Michiko’s eyes.

It was a small tablet, but the logo was cat-shaped. No brand I’d ever heard of had a logo like that. Hesitantly, I tapped the button on the front, and the screen lit up.

_HOPE’S HUSH RESORT  
GUEST IDENTIFIER_

“Hope’s Hush Resort?”  
“I’ve never heard of any Hope’s Hush,” Michiko said.  
“Maybe it’s new?” Daisuke asked, shrugging his shoulders.  
  
I tapped the screen once, watching it closely.  
_GUEST 16  
HAZUKI SATOU_

_ULTIMATE #$@!_

“What’s this supposed to mean?” Daisuke pointed overhead, at the symbols where my talent should have been.  
“I… don’t know.”  
“You  _do_  have a talent, right?” Michiko asked, the emphasis in her tone stabbing me in the heart.  
“… I don’t know. I don’t- ah!”

My head stung as I tried to remember my talent. I dropped the tablet to the floor, holding my head. Daisuke stood quickly, holding my shoulders to help me keep my balance.

“Hey, hey, you okay? You need to sit down?”  
“N-no, thank you, I’m fine…”

I took a moment to compose myself. My head stopped throbbing, and I felt like I could stay on my feet, so I gave Daisuke a smile and he let me go.  
“Sorry to worry you.”  
“Hey, don’t beat yourself up. We’ve all got some gaps in our memory; yours might just be a little worse.”  
“Everyone does?”

Michiko nodded in agreement. “We’ve asked a few of the others, and everyone says the same thing. The last thing they remember is getting on a plane to… somewhere. Almost all of us flew out on our own; the only ones who didn’t were the Himura sisters.”  
“How many people are stuck here?”  
“Eighteen, in all.”

Eighteen? If that was the case, then there had to be reports. Michiko’s disappearance alone would cause a national search.  
“Well, there’s nothing else to be done trying to get online,” she said, putting her phone back in her bag. She paused as she did, frowning into it.  
“What’s the matter?” Daisuke asked.  
In response, Michiko produced a tablet of her own. The same as mine, with the little cat logo on the back.  
She tapped the screen twice, and showed it to us.

_HOPE’S HUSH RESORT  
GUEST IDENTIFIER_

_GUEST 6  
MICHIKO UEDA  
ULTIMATE SOCIALITE_

“Daisuke, do you have one of these things too?” I asked. The Ultimate Blogger took his backpack off, rummaging through it.  
“Well, what do you know,” he said after a moment, pulling his tablet out. “Sure do. Going to guess we all have one. Maybe ask some of the others to take a look if they do too.”  
I nodded, leaving them to examining the tablets.

I made my way over to the other three, just as one of the boys began violently shaking the bars of the grate.  
He looked like any average boy, dressed smartly in a button-down shirt with a red vest and black slacks. His sleeves were pushed up to his elbows, and his golden hair was cleanly cut.  
“No good.” He said, as he finished shaking the bars.  
“Well what even was the point of that?” Another boy said, arms folded, “Trying to show these ladies how tough you are?”  
Looking at him, he looked like a ladies’ man himself. Dressed to the nines in a white suit with cyan accents, including a hat and tie, which contrasted nicely with his bright pink hair. He gave me a quick look, examining me head-to-toe with a little smirk.  
I was right.

The first boy turned on the second, pointing viciously as he replied.  
“The bars look rusted, dumbass, but they’re as sturdy as new ones. We can’t break through these, or the other ones.”

The girl with them sighed, turning to me.  
“Sorry, I don’t think we’ve been introduced. You were the one still out cold?”

When she turned to me, I let out a sharp gasp.  
“Is that a gun?!”

She looked down at her clothes, at the pistol secured firmly in the holster at her side.  
“Yeah, it is. Don’t worry, I’ve made sure the safety’s on, and it’s not getting brought out without good reason.”  
Looking at her, if it wasn’t for the gun, I’d have thought she was something like the Ultimate Track Star. She wore a purple track jacket, grey skinny jeans with holes in the knees and comfortable black-and-white running shoes. The confidence in her stance made me relax a little, but I was still worried… unless…

“Did you… bring that with you?”  
“No,” she shook her head, “I woke up with it, back in the dancehall. I made sure to leave the room before I checked it, too. My guess is it’s some kind of sick joke. But more importantly, you haven’t told me who you are.”  
“Oh, I’m sorry. My name’s Hazuki Satou. What’s yours?”  
“Ai Matthews.” She gave me a smile, “Nice to meet you, Hazuki.”  
“Matthews,” I repeated, “You’re from overseas?”  
“My dad's from America,” Ai rolled her shoulders, “Mom’s Japanese. I grew up in Japan, for most of my life, but we visited the US a lot.”  
“You sound like everyone asks you that.”  
She chuckled softly. “Everyone does. I can tell what’s coming next, too; you’re gonna ask me what my talent is.”

My cheeks burned again; she was right.

“It’s what you think it is. Ultimate Sharpshooter. Put a gun in my hands and a target in my sight, and I’ll nail it.”  
“That’s amazing… and kind of scary.” I admitted, but she laughed.  
“I get that a lot, too.”

“If you ladies don’t mind,” one of the boys, the snazzy one in the suit, interjected, “may we be included in this little chat?”  
“Yeah, I’m sick of trying to talk sense into this freak,” the first boy said, leaning against the grate with his arms folded.

“Hazuki, this is Yosuke Harakawa, Ultimate Billiards Player,” Ai gestured to the leaning boy, then continued with the second, “and this is Fuyuki Takada, Ultimate Stylist.”  
Fuyuki tipped his hat to me, winking underneath it.  
“My pleasure, Hazuki.”  
Yosuke scoffed. “Creep. Nice to meet you, Hazuki.”  
“Nice to meet you both,” I quickly replied with a smile, before Fuyuki started snapping back. He glared at Yosuke for a moment, but he smoothed his expression.

Clearly not the kind of guy who liked to look nasty in front of women.

“So you’ve all been trying to get through the grate?” I asked. Yosuke nodded, tapping his fist against it.  
“It’s locked tight, and while it may look old, it’s holding up against abuse.”  
For emphasis, he gave the bars another solid tug.  
“If it was a standard gate,” Ai said, hands on her hips, “Secured with a normal chain and padlock, I could easily get through that.”  
“But this one’s a unique design,” Yosuke continued, stepping away from the grate to show us specifically.

“The mechanisms are built so deeply into the wall and ceiling, you can’t even get close enough to tamper with them. Increased security, probably.”  
“Not that it matters now,” Fuyuki said with a shrug, “since no one’s here to run this place anymore.”  
“You think so?” Yosuke asked, raising his eyebrow.  
“Well, Harakawa,” Fuyuki smirked, “have you seen anyone here who didn’t wake up in the dancehall?”

That was a good point. Everyone I’d seen so far had been in the same boat as me – as far as I knew. Not that I’d gone very far from the dancehall yet…  
But surely someone would have come told the people here if there was anyone outside. Michiko had said there were eighteen of us altogether.  
“So someone, probably a group, abducted us onto an abandoned island.”  
“But why would someone do that?” Ai asked.  
“Most likely? Ransom.” Fuyuki supplied with a grim expression.

A silence fell over the four of us.

“But if we’re hostages,” Yosuke asked slowly, “why would they give the Ultimate Sharpshooter a gun?”

The dread turned into confusion. Why  _would_ anyone give a hostage a weapon, let alone the weapon they were exceptional with?

“Ugh, this is hurting my head,” Yosuke continued, turning back to the grate. “Hopefully they’ve had better luck outside.”  
“I’ll head out and see,” Ai said, turning to me. “Hazuki, would you wanna come with me?”

I nodded, then turned back to Yosuke and Fuyuki. “What are you two going to do?”  
Yosuke sighed heavily. “I don’t know. Wait here, I guess?”  
“You don’t want to look around?”  
“I looked out the door when some of the others went out. What I saw looked like messy dog shit, so no, I don’t want to look around.”  
Fuyuki nodded in agreement. “As vulgar as he had to put it, he’s right; it’s not good.”  
Ai sighed as Yosuke and Fuyuki began another argument.  
“Come on, let’s go. They’ll be at it for hours, I bet.”

As we headed towards the door, Daisuke called out and joined us. Together we ventured to the outside of the building.  
Our hearts sank at the decrepit state of the island.

The trees and plants were all long dead, gnarled twisted skeletons of their former selves. Their roots cracked the dry dirt and dead grass around them. The paths, once clean cobbled stone, had fallen in disrepair, now cracked and infested with weeds.  
It was miserable.  
Daisuke inhaled sharply at the sight. “This… this is worse than I thought.”

“It’s all like this.”

The words came from a young man sitting on the stairs, looking out at the field with soft, sad eyes. Looking at him felt like looking at a rare flower; rose blonde curls on a pale stem, wrapped in delicate fabrics.  
“It’s dreadful,” he looked up at us, peach eyes wet with tears, “It’s bad enough we’ve been trapped here, but for it all to be  _dead_ …”  
“Hey, it’s okay,” Daisuke crouched down, patting him on the shoulder, “There’s plenty of us here. We won’t be trapped long, I know it.”  
“I hope you’re right,” the young man wiped his eyes.  
“It’s Jun, right?” Daisuke asked, “Jun Miyamoto?”  
“That’s right,” Jun smiled, and my heart melted. “And you are?”  
“Daisuke Nagasaki, Ultimate Blogger. This is Hazuki Satou, and this is…”  
“Ai Matthews. Ultimate Sharpshooter.” Ai gave a nod.  
“Oh- so that’s a-a real…”  
Ai shifted, giving Jun some more space. “Don’t worry, the safety’s on. You won’t be hurt with it.”  
I crouched down beside Daisuke.  
“Have you looked at the whole island, Jun?”  
“For the most part,” he nodded, “I haven’t looked inside any of the buildings, but a couple of the others said they were.”  
“Think they’re still out that way?”

Before any of us could answer, there was a sudden sound – a bell, like the ones in schools. I wondered why a school bell would be here, but it was followed by a microphone clicking on.

“Testing, testing, one two three! Good morning, guests! We are pleased to announce that all the preparations are complete, so if you could all make your way back to the main hall, we can get this show on the road!”

The microphone clicked off, then suddenly clicked on again.

“ _THAT MEANS NOW, KITTENS.”_

The four of us exchanged equally worried looks.  
“Is it just me,” Daisuke said quietly, “or did that sound… nothing at all like a human.”  
“It’s not just you,” Ai said, folding her arms, “but I think we should go.”  
I nodded in agreement. “If someone’s going to tell us what’s going on here, I want to know.”

\--

When we arrived back in the dancehall, it looked as though nothing had changed since I left it with the Himuras. Michiko, Fuyuki and Yosuke had all gathered inside, the socialite keeping her distance from the arguing boys.

I took a seat, watching the doors as the remaining guests trickled in.

First was the Himuras, Suzume still firmly clamped on Setsuko’s arm. Then it was a smart looking young man in a lab coat, his handsome features twisted with anxiety. Close behind him was a girl, incredibly pale in an oversized pink cardigan, covering a frilled white blouse and a pale purple romper suit. A minute later, another girl strode in with all the elegance, and wardrobe of a princess. She was followed by a flashy boy-and-girl pair, who were in turn followed by what very well could have been a walking trench coat covered in paint splatters.  
The last three arrived together – a girl and two boys.  
The girl was visually busy, dressed in a vibrant red-and-white ensemble. As for the boys, they were much more muted. One looked like he’d been dragged out of a high school classroom, while the other… dragged off band practice. But the latter lugged a large instrument bag with him, with minimal effort despite the sour expression on his face.

“We-well we-well!  _FINALLY, AM I RIGHT!?”_

The electronic voice from before sounded through the speakers.

“Now that we’re all finally together…  _LET’S GET THIS SHIT STARTED! EYES FRONT, KITTENS!”_

Confetti suddenly burst out of the stage across the room, drawing all of our attention as the owner of the voice sprang from nowhere.

It was a robotic cat. Chubby, anthropomorphic… with black and white fur and vicious eyes, one black and one red.  
It pulled up a chair from the same place it had arrived, and clambered up onto it. A part of me wanted to laugh, but the rest was too paralyzed with fear.

Finally, the cat turned back to us, letting out a mad laugh.

“ _NYA-HA HA HA HA! WELCOME, WELCOME, ONE AND ALL, TO YOUR FINAL HOLIDAY DESTINATION!”_

“Wha-whats going on?” Daisuke asked no one in particular. The cat hissed in response.  
“Maybe if you fucking kids didn’t take nine lives to get here! Seriously, where the hell did you even go!? You’re lucky I’m a patient cat, or I’d claw you all to shreds for your tardiness!”  
The cat paused, composing itself with a cleared throat.  
“Anyway, as I was saying. Welcome… to Hope’s Hush Resort! The ultimate holiday destination for Ultimates!”

Ultimates… so we were all Ultimates. I glanced around the room, wondering what all these unfamiliar people were capable of.

“And,” the cat continued on, “the last place you sorry bunch of punks will ever see.”

Dread washed over us at that statement.  
“Explain yourself, animal,” The regal girl spoke, “What do you mean, the last place we will ever see?”  
“Hmph,” The cat huffed, a cartoonish fog appearing over its face, “What are they teaching kids these days? I mean, you dumb brats are never leaving this place!”

The fog cleared when a sinister smile spread over its expression.

“Well, not unless you play by  _MY RULES_.”

A banner unfurled behind the cat, and my heart sank as I took in the words. Written in a horrible brown colour, like clotted blood…

**_MONOKITTY’S FAVOURITE PASTIME  
THE KILLING GAME_ **

“K-killing game?” Suzume stuttered out from behind Setsuko. Monokitty glared down at her, its red eye glowing brightly.  
“Sure as sugar, kitten. If you want to get back to your boring old lives, you’ve gotta do like the animals do and  _FUCKING KILL FOR IT.”  
_“You want us to… to kill each other?” Jun asked, hand at his throat.  
“ _POINT TO THE FRAGILE FLOWER!_ I’m here for bloodshed and deception! Brutality, fatality,  _ANIMALITY!_ Wait, what?”  
“And what if we don’t play your game?” Michiko growled, arms folded. Monokitty giggled into its paws, wiggling on its seat.  
“Well, Miss Ultimate Socialite,” it said, its tone cruel and mocking, “You can sit around and wait for someone with some balls to kill you. Or you can just lie down and starve! But that’s not very interesting, is it? You don’t want to bore your dear, beloved Monokitty, do you?”  
“I can think of a lot of things I’d rather do than play your sick little game,” Michiko snapped back, “and so can everyone else!”

We all agreed at differing volumes, but the aura in the room was clear. No one, even those of us capable, would be killing anyone else.  
Monokitty stared down at us, going still. Then it sighed, raising its arms in a shrug.

“Well, that’s kittens for you, right? Don’t know what’s good for them, not one bit. So let me explain in a little bit more detail for the dumb ones in the audience.  
“Eighteen graduates – that’s you, kittens, - are trapped on this here island resort. There’s only one way off and back to the mainland – getting away with murder! Specifically, picking off another graduate. Ooh, I can’t wait to see what you sick little fuckers can come up with! But if you plan on being stubborn, and no one’s dead very soon, I’ll be a very angry Monokitty!  
“So while we wait around for one of you to stop being a  _USELESS PILE OF TRASH AND FUCKING KILL,_ you can hang around the few facilities we’ve got up and running. We’ve got this here dancehall, the fountain out there, the beach restaurant and the guest hotel. Kinda boring, if you ask me, but hey,  _I GET TO GO WHEREVER THE FUCK I WANT!_ After all, I’m the sole administrator of this island!  _NYA-HA HA HA HA!”_

My blood felt like ice as I looked around the room. Everyone looked terrified, staring at the banner still waving behind Monokitty.  
We were trapped here… until someone killed.

The worst part was, some of us were definitely capable of it.

“Nyu-hu, look at all those cute, sad kitten faces! That’s just what we _-NO I WANNA SEE!_ You just wanna go home, huh? You just wanna live your normal, boring shitshow of a life?

 ** _TOO BAD_**.”

In a flash, Monokitty disappeared, leaving nothing but an empty chair falling over on its side. As it clattered against the stage, the tension in the room grew tenfold. When I looked around, I noticed more than a few nervous looks being levelled at Ai in particular, who tried in vain not to notice it.

\--

**PROLOGUE**

**WELCOME TO HOPE’S HUSH**

\--

Finally, someone spoke.

“So… what happens now?”  
It was the small, pale girl in the cardigan, holding a doll tightly in her arms. She stood far away from everyone else, but her voice carried in the empty room.  
“What happens now? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!” Yosuke exploded.  
“We’re trapped on this fucking island, and a robot cat is holding us prisoner until someone  _murders someone!_  How are any of us supposed to know what fucking happens now!?”  
“Dude, calm down,” Daisuke said, raising his hands, “Let’s try not to lose our heads over this, all right?”  
“He’s right,” The boy in the lab coat said, adjusting his glasses, “The longer we hold on to logical thought, the safer we’ll all be.”  
“So keep your head on until we’re done talking it out, all right?”  
Yosuke, unfortunately, didn’t appreciate the statements. With a guttural yell, he ran across the hall and tackled Daisuke to the floor.

Chaos erupted moments later. Everyone dissolved into shouting, a few of the boys trying to pry the fight apart only to get drawn into it themselves.  
Adrenaline pumped through my veins, but I didn’t know what to do… until I noticed who was standing next to me.

The fight ended to the sound of a gunshot.

All eyes turned to Ai and myself, her pistol aimed at the floor behind her; far away from hitting anyone, but doing exactly what I asked her to do.  
“Everyone,” I put my hands up, “please, don’t hurt each other like this.”

Daisuke held an arm against Yosuke’s shoulder; Yosuke still had a tight grip on Daisuke’s shirt, his other arm held tightly by another boy I didn’t know to keep him from punching any more. Nasty bruises were already forming on exposed skin, and blood dripped from Daisuke’s split lip.  
Yosuke stared at me, the wild anger still flaring in his eyes.

I stepped forward slowly, anxious now that all eyes were on me.

“Yosuke,” I said when I reached his side, “please let him go. You know he was only trying to help.”  
Yosuke glared at Daisuke, but there was shame in the expression.  
Very slowly, he let go of Daisuke’s shirt, and the Blogger fell backwards to the floor.  
“We have to work together,” I said, gently touching Yosuke’s arm. He tensed, but didn’t knock me away.  
Eventually, he spoke.

“… Fine, fine. I won’t… I won’t hit him, okay? Just stop lookin’ at me like that.”

When I turned to check on Daisuke, I found him already examined by the boy in the lab coat.  
“How bad is it, Doc? Am I still handsome?” Daisuke asked, giving a cheeky wink.  
“Well, you shouldn’t scar,” Lab Coat said with a smile, “I think you’ll be fine.”  
“I’m… sorry.” Yosuke said, rubbing the back of his head. “I lost my head.”

“Are you finished?”

A stern voice cut through the moment. It was Michiko, her face twisted in irritation.  
“Maybe you all can look past this, but I’m not blind or stupid. You could very easily have killed him, right in front of our eyes.”  
“Michiko, wait,” I tried to interject, but she ignored me.  
“How am I supposed to believe you weren’t trying to?”  
“I said I was sorry! I’d never try to kill someone!” Yosuke retorted, but Michiko shook her head. She began to walk away, towards the exit.  
“I don’t know about the rest of you,” she called back, “but I’d watch your backs around these… violent types.”

With that, she was gone.

The mood had shifted back to terror. Yosuke stared at the floor, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. Ai, too, kept her eyes firmly downward as she reset the safety on her gun.  
The girl with the doll across the room started towards the door too.  
“Me and Chouko need fresh air to think… Bye-bye.”

The walking trench coat – a boy, I finally could tell – soon left afterwards without a word, followed by the regal girl. Jun went next, mumbling something about agreeing with fresh air, and Suzume began tugging on Setsuko’s arm, drawing her sister away from the group. The girl in red hurried off too, around the same time as the studious looking boy.

I didn’t blame them for being scared, but I had a feeling I could help calm them down… If only I had the chance.  
Now that everyone was breaking off, I decided it was the time to finish meeting everyone.

I started with the person standing closest to me; Mr. Lab Coat.  
He had moved on to check over Yosuke, but it was clear he was much better off than Daisuke was after the fight.  
“Excuse me,” I said, tapping his shoulder, “I didn’t catch your name…”  
“Ah, excuse me,” he gave me a kind smile, “There wasn’t a good moment for introductions, was there? I’m Keiji Haruno, the Ultimate Doctor. And you are?”  
“Hazuki Satou,” I smiled back. “Thank you for checking on these guys.”  
“No need to thank me; it’s simply my duty as a doctor.”  
He took another look at Yosuke’s bruises, but nodded and patted his shoulder. “You’ll be fine, too. Just… try not to get into any more brawls.”  
Yosuke grunted, skulking off with his hands in his pockets. Keiji dusted his hands, sighing softly.

“I should thank you, Hazuki.”  
“Me?”  
“You broke up that fight before it could escalate too far, and with only a few words. It’s impressive.”  
“Well, I had some help,” I admitted, “I don’t think I could have gotten anyone’s attention without Ai.”  
“True,” Keiji nodded, adjusting his glasses, “then I must thank her, as well.”

I looked over to where Ai had been, but she’d vanished from the dancehall like the others. I felt terribly; I would have to both thank her and apologise.  
“Are you worried, Keiji?”  
Keiji blinked. “Worried? I don’t see why I wouldn’t be… but, to be honest, I’m more worried about my patients back home.”  
“Your patients?”  
“I volunteered at a few clinics around my home city. I assumed this would only be a short trip, but if we are truly stuck here…”  
“That’s very noble of you.”  
Keiji gave me a wide-eyed look. “I’m sorry?”  
“Even if you’re trapped, you’re more worried about your patients’ health than yourself… It’s noble.”  
He smiled. “Thank you for the kind words. But I shouldn’t hold you up; I’m sure you want to talk to some of our fellow guests.”  
I nodded. “Thank you, Keiji. We’ll talk again soon.”

When I went to move on, I came face to face with another stranger.  
This one was a boy; very tall, dressed in dark green leather with black belts on his legs. Large, turquoise headphones sat around his shoulders, and he looked down at me with a friendly smile reaching his bright red eyes.  
So, not exactly face to face; more like face to chest.  
“Um, hello,” I said, craning my neck to look up at him.  
“Hey there, shorty,” he said, still smiling. “Nice to meet ya. I’m the Ultimate DJ, Ryuunosuke Sasaki, but feel free to call me Ryuu.”

There was a vibrant energy around him that was infectious; I found myself smiling more genuinely. “Nice to meet you, Ryuu. I’m Hazuki Satou.”  
“Yeah, I heard when you talked to Doctor Keiji.” Ryuu winked at the doctor, who in turn rolled his eyes.  
“I gotta say, I’m glad there’s someone who can help keep people calm at a time like this.”  
“Really?” I tilted my head, somewhat confused. “I just did what anyone would have done…”  
“But none of us did,” Ryuu pointed out, tapping my forehead with one finger, “Don’t downplay that. What you did stopped what could’ve been a really bad outcome, and you know that.”

I couldn’t help a smile, feeling ridiculous for blushing at his praise. “I really didn’t think about that… I just… you know. Did what felt like the right thing.”  
Ryuu laughed, patting my hair. “All right, all right. Take care, Hazuki.”  
With a few quick strides, he was gone.

The last one left that I hadn’t met was a flashy girl who’d been very quiet throughout the mayhem. She stood to the side, alone, but made eye contact when I approached her.  
I was a little taken aback when I got a good look at her. ‘Flashy’ was still a good word, but up close…

Her clothes were incredibly revealing. Her black shirt barely buttoned around her chest, exposing her red lingerie and pale stomach. As for her legs… well, they were exposed as well, underneath thin stockings going up to her thighs, meeting dangerously small shorts.  
I felt awful for staring at her. She wrapped her arms around herself, covering up her chest.  
“I-I’m sorry!”  
“It’s fine,” she said with a shrug, “It happens like, all the time. You looked a little uncomfy, is all.”  
“I just… I just wanted to introduce myself.” I said, awkwardly clearing my throat. “Could we start over?”  
She smiled, kind and gentle.  
“Sure, why not? I’m Kaoru Nakajima, Ultimate Burlesque Dancer. It’s nice to meet you.”

Well, that accounted for her attire.

“Nice to meet you, Kaoru. I’m Hazuki Satou.”  
Kaoru’s smile widened. “Thanks for coming over and like, talking to me, by the way. So far nearly everyone’s ignored me.”  
“Really?”  
She nodded. “I think it’s my outfit.”  
I couldn’t help but look at her clothes again. I could picture a lot of the boys being flustered around her – the revealing nature of her attire wasn’t (or maybe was?) helped by the curviness of her body.  
“See?” she said, raising her arms.  
“Um, y-yes, I see…” Even I was flustered by her. I had to admit, I was a little envious of how beautiful and confident she was.  
Kaoru sighed, falling back into her neutral stance.  
“Well, maybe there’s like, a coat or something in my hotel room… I’ll talk to you later, Hazuki.”  
“O-okay. See you later, Kaoru.”

\--

I decided to make my way outside.

In the foyer of the building, sitting on the edge of the fountain, was the regal girl from earlier. I approached her slowly, but she didn’t appear to notice me until I was standing in front of her.

She wore an elegant dress, baby blue in colour. It was similar to Suzume’s, in its frilly, feminine way, but the design made me think more of old English porcelain dolls than strawberry cakes.  
It contrasted against her dark hair, worn in a high ponytail that curled down to her back, decorated with ornate gold chains and stars.  
She stared at me with piercing brown eyes, but she didn’t say a word.

“I, um… H-hello, my name is Hazuki Satou.”  
“…”  
“Uh, what’s yours?”  
“… Shizuka Fujinami.” Her voice was so soft, I barely heard her reply; nothing at all like when she cut into Monokitty earlier.  
“Nice to meet you, Shizuka.”  
“Is it?” Shizuka turned away from me, looking down into the empty fountain. “We are only meeting because we have been kidnapped. I would not call it nice.”  
I was taken aback by her response. “Uh, well… isn’t it nice to meet someone on your side here?”  
“Are you?” she turned to me again. Her logic was… confusing.  
“Well… I don’t want to kill you. So, yes, I am.”

Shizuka paused, for what felt like ages. Just staring into my eyes.

Suddenly, she gave me the smallest smile.

“I suppose it is nice to meet you then, Hazuki. I hope nobody else realises you are an easy target.”  
My eyes widened.  
“What!?”  
“Well, you did not introduce your talent to me. I assume that means you do not have one.”  
“I-I… I do, it’s just… complicated. And you didn’t tell me your talent, either!”  
Shizuka’s smile faded away.  
“I am Shizuka Fujinami. It is not my fault if you are so uncultured as to not know my talent from my name alone, but if you are… I am the Ultimate Diva.”  
I paused, trying to figure out what that meant. Shizuka’s fair face gave me an ugly frown.  
“It refers to my singing voice, you idiot. I am a master of opera, famous for my arias, but I suppose a foolish gutter rat like you does not appreciate the classical arts. Enough,” Shizuka turned away again, “I still hope you will not be killed, but I am tired of talking to you.”

I couldn’t help but think ‘diva’ still referred to her rotten personality, but there was no point arguing with her when she was clearly good at ignoring people. Without another word to her, I left the building.

“Ah!”  
I bumped into a walking trench coat on my way out.  
The boy wearing it stared at me for a second, then seemed to disappear further into his hood. At this range, I could see he was impossibly pale; even his hair lacked colour, messy underneath the jacket and hiding half of his face.  
“S-sorry…” he whispered, from the shadows.  
“Oh, it’s okay. I should have looked first… What’s your name?”  
His one visible eye peered down at me – I couldn’t make out if it was blue or grey.  
“… I’m… Hikaru. Hikaru Kimihara, Ultimate Painter.”  
“Nice to meet you, Hikaru,” I smiled, “I’m Hazuki Satou.”

We stood there for a moment in awkward silence. Hikaru shifted back and forth on his feet, looking away from me.  
“S-sorry, b-but, I… could you m-maybe, maybe not s-stare at me?”  
“Oh!” I said, looking away, “I’m sorry. This situation is pretty scary, isn’t it.”  
“It is, but… I don’t… really like people, um, looking at me…”

Now that I knew his name, I remembered reading about Kimihara’s paintings. The magazines all claimed he was an artistic genius and master of the medium, but he never once appeared at his gallery openings.  
Seeing he was this incredibly shy, nervous young man, I suddenly understood why.  
“Well, if you’re ever uncomfortable, feel free to tell me. I’d like it if we could be friends, so you can get to know me at your own pace.”  
Hikaru looked at me with surprise. Slowly, it melted into a sweet, nearly-hidden smile.  
“Th-thank you, Hazuki. That sounds… really nice.”  
“Have you seen where any of the others have gone?”  
He nodded, then shook his head. “Well, o-only some. The ones that, um, left after me… Three of them went to the, the restaurant, and the r-rest went back to the, the hotel. That, that girl with her doll, I didn’t see where she went… but there’s only s-so many places we can go yet…”  
I nodded. “I’ll go have a look. Do you want to come with me, Hikaru?”  
He grimaced.  
“N-no, thanks. I-I think I’ll just, um, go back to my room. T-take care, Hazuki.”  
Before I even said goodbye, Hikaru took off towards the hotel. I watched him for a while, then turned and followed the path down to the restaurant.

It was almost picturesque, in a sad way. It was in a lot better repair than the main building, but rather than looking old and decrepit, it looked like it was abandoned before it even had a chance to open. The stark white walls were stained by the sea breeze, and the wooden tables and chairs outside had weathered into different patterns of colour.  
When I went inside, it was like stepping into a display home, or a backdrop in a tv show. Everything looked so new, like no one had ever used the facilities here.

A girl was sitting at one of the tables. The girl was the one dressed in a red and white sweater over a red skirt, chattering away to herself while writing something on a piece of paper.  
I slowly walked over, and when she noticed me, she flashed me a bright smile.

“Hi! You must be Hazuki Satou, right?”  
“Uh, yes, that’s right… How did you know?”  
She gestured to the door, presumably leading to the kitchen. “Suzume told me! Gosh, the way you helped break up that fight… you must like that boy, huh?”  
My cheeks turned red. “Wh-who? Daisuke?”  
“Which one’s Daisuke?” The girl looked down at her paper. Looking at it, I realised it was a network diagram, patching different names to one another. Some were written as placeholders, like ‘Doll Girl’ or ‘Hat Guy’.

I noticed Setsuko’s name was by a scribbled out ‘Scary Sister’.

“Daisuke was the one that got attacked…”  
“Yeah, that’s who I was thinking of! I’m always right, you know!” She drew a line between my name and ‘Cute Dorky Guy’, which was quickly scribbled out and replaced with ‘Daisuke’.  
“What are you doing?” I asked, and she giggled.  
“Pairing up, silly! After all, Emi Ikeda  _is_ the Ultimate Matchmaker!”

“Ultimate… Matchmaker?”  
“Yeah, you know,” she winked, “I take the right two people, send them on a few outings… And they realise I was right, and they’re perfect for each other!”  
“Don’t you think that’s a little… inappropriate, right now?”  
Emi pouted. “Well, what else am I supposed to do? I’m not the Ultimate… time-go-faster… person. And Suzume’s checking out the kitchen, so Setsuko’s not letting me in, so I’m sitting here until she’s finished!”  
I looked over at the door. Setsuko really went everywhere with Suzume…

“I think you have a point… Have you seen anyone else around here?”  
Emi nodded, tapping a name on her page. ‘Doll Girl’.  
“She was further down on the beach, talking to herself. I wanted to go talk to her, but she kept walking further away from me… You might have to sneak up on her if you want to introduce yourself.”  
“I’ll keep that in mind… thanks. It was nice talking to you, Emi.”  
“Stay safe!” She smiled, going back to her work.

When I went outside, I took a good look on either side of the beach. Off in the distance, I did see a little purple figure.  
I decided to take a longer approach, moving slowly around her before I started walking towards her.

She held her doll in her hands, facing out towards the ocean. As I got close, I started to hear her speaking.  
“… not a very nice thing to say, Chouko. We won’t say that to her face… but she’s not here, is she? Hihihihi~…”  
“Um, excuse me!”  
“EEK!”

The girl spun around, holding her doll close to her chest.  
“What do you want!?”  
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you!” I raised my hands. “I’m Hazuki Satou. I just wanted to introduce myself.”  
She looked at me like a kicked puppy.  
“Well, you introduced yourself. Leave us alone now.”  
“B-but you didn’t tell me your name.”  
She raised her doll up, holding her as if the doll was whispering in her ear.  
“… It’s… Nana. I’m Nana Nakano, and this is Chouko.”  
“Nice to meet you… Did you make her yourself?”  
“Mhm,” Nana smiled softly, holding Chouko up to me, “Isn’t she beautiful?”  
“She is! You must be very proud of your work…”  
“I’m the Ultimate Dollmaker… I make a lot… but Chouko’s my very most favourite.”

There was definitely a lot of love put into the doll, but before I could look too closely, Nana pulled her away to her ear again.  
“Mhm, mhm… Okay. Chouko wants me to tell you that she’s happy to meet you too, but you really should get a move on. We’ve got stuff to talk about that doesn’t involve you.”  
I was a little taken aback, but at least she wasn’t as bad as Shizuka.  
“Okay, Nana. I’ll talk to you later.”  
“Probably not,” Nana said, shrugging, “but it’ll make me and Chouko happy if you do.”  
As I left her, Nana moved Chouko’s arm up and down, waving goodbye.

Walking along the path, I realised the island really wasn’t very big. Doing a complete lap would barely take an hour, less if I was running. It was very likely that unless a plane or boat was very close when passing, they’d never even notice the island was here.  
The main resort tower did stand out, but I had a feeling Monokitty had a way to keep it out of notice. I tried not to think about it.

I became so focused on not focusing that I ended up walking straight into someone.

“Ah!”  
It was a boy – the one still dressed like a high-school student. From his straight-laced purple haircut, to his baby blue uniform jacket and dark violet jeans. Even the messenger bag he carried on his hip, and the heavy book clutched awkwardly in his arms, made him look younger.  
But one look at his eyes and I knew he was definitely not a kid.  
“Oh, I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” I asked. He adjusted his glasses – thick lenses covering half of his face, with small numerical patterns on the frames.  
“Uh, yes, I am. Well, I mean, besides… you know. Being trapped here.”  
He gave me an awkward smile. “Sorry. Please let me introduce myself; my name is Jirou Akiyama, the Ultimate Mathematician. It’s good to meet you, miss.”  
“Nice to meet you too,” I nodded to him, “my name is Hazuki Satou.”

Jirou smoothed out the pages of his book, closing it once he was satisfied.  
“What’s that you’re reading?”  
“Oh, nothing special. It’s a collection of my mathematics notes from my school years; I keep it with me when I need to occupy my thoughts.”  
The book looked full to bursting.  
“When did you start it?”  
“Hmm… as soon as I could write. Well, that was a different book, so I guess… since I was nine years old?”  
“How old are you now?” I tilted my head.  
“Actually, I just turned eighteen two weeks ago… This vacation was supposed to be something of a celebration for me.”  
“Oh… well, uh, happy birthday for two weeks ago?”  
My vague attempt at a joke did at least get him to smile. “Thank you, Miss Satou. Hopefully we won’t be in this awful situation for long.”  
I nodded. “Rescue will be coming soon, I’m sure. We just have to work together.”  
Jirou’s smile faded. “I’m sorry to say, but, that’s statistically unlikely.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Considering the many differing dominant personalities in our group,” Jirou adjusted his glasses again, “there’s an incredibly high chance of conflict that’s already been proven between Harakawa and Nagasaki. Miss Ueda’s statement about violent types was unkind, yes, but not incorrect.”  
I thought about those people, frowning. “I don’t think that’s true. Yosuke was just running on adrenaline; just because he reacted badly then, it doesn’t mean it will happen again.”

Jirou shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I’ve done the math.”  
I sighed. “I guess I can’t argue with you on that, but I believe in them.”  
“I’m not saying you can’t,” Jirou said, turning a little red, “but… just, don’t get your hopes too high up.”  
I folded my arms. “I’m sure I’ll be fine in the hope department, thank you.”  
Jirou rubbed the back of his head. The conversation was suddenly  _very_ awkward.  
“Well, um… I think I’ll, uh, get back to my reading… Nice talking to you, Miss Satou.”  
“You too, Jirou. Stay safe.”

We parted ways there. I felt a little hurt, but I didn’t know why. I wasn’t one of the ‘violent types’ Michiko and Jirou were worried about…  
But it was wrong. We couldn’t start suspecting each other, not if we wanted to survive. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.

I made my way to the hotel. It was, perhaps, the most normal thing on the island. Therefore it was the strangest thing on the island.  
It wasn’t in disrepair. It wasn’t in pristine condition.  
It looked like the design had been based on architecture from somewhere in Europe – my guess wanted to be France, but I couldn’t know for sure. The outside was beautiful; a calm, pale yellow colour, with flowerboxes beneath the white curtained windows. The sign above the wooden doors was barely legible, but when I was close enough, I could just barely make out:

**_HOPE’S @!$#@ HOTEL_ **

That was strange. I was sure the middle word should have been ‘Hush’, like the resort name.  
Before I could think about it too deeply, I heard something… different.

It was music.  
I followed the sound around the side, to an open seating area that would have been a garden. Sitting there, playing a large wooden instrument, was the last person I didn’t know on the island – a boy in a dark red and white costume, like a member of a marching band. His hair was auburn, and shaggily cut.  
He drew the bow back and forth on the strings, his hand sliding up and down the neck to draw out the beautiful melody, eyes closed in concentration.  
I stood there, dumbstruck, until the song ended. With a heavy sigh, the boy looked up at me with an unhappy expression.

“You didn’t have to stand there, you know.” He grumbled.  
“I’m sorry,” I said, rubbing my arm, “I didn’t want to interrupt.”  
“Wouldn’t have mattered, it was a crappy run anyway.” He leaned back in his seat. “What do you want?”  
“We haven’t been introduced, so… I wanted to get to know you a little.”  
His expression shifted; an eyebrow raised and a grimace on his mouth. “Why?”  
“Well, we can’t be friends if we don’t know each other’s names.”  
“And who said I wanted to be friends?”  
I rubbed my arm. “Well… I’d still like to know your name.”  
He rolled his eyes. “Look, that cutesy, innocent girl routine? Might work on the other morons here, but I’m not falling for it.”  
“What?”  
“Don’t act dumb,” he pointed the bow at me, “you’re trying to play real sweet, so everyone will like you enough that no one will try to kill you off.”  
“That’s not what I’m doing at all!”  
“No? You’re telling me you’re  _actually_ this nice?”  
“Well… I guess I am.”

He snorted, then laughed at me.  
“Yeah, right. You’re a pretty shitty liar, you know that?”  
“I’m not lying,” I frowned, “I’m telling you the truth.”  
“Yeah whatever.” He lowered his bow to his instrument again, beginning another rendition of the song.

“I guess I can play along then. Name’s Yuuma Watanabe, and I’m the Ultimate Cellist.”

“Well, in that case, nice to meet you, Yuuma. I’m Hazuki Satou.”  
“No it’s not.”  
“Excuse me?” I frowned again.  
“It’s not ‘nice’ to meet me. It’s written all over your face; you think I’m an asshole.”

I folded my arms, trying to listen more to the lovely music than his irritating words. “Well am I wrong?”  
Yuuma snorted again. “Okay, maybe I walked into that one. Look, you got my name. That’s all you need to know about me; we’re not going to be best friends forever, so why don’t you wander off and bat your eyelashes at someone a bit… dumber.”  
“I don’t ‘bat my eyelashes’,” I growled.  
“Whatever you want to call it, Satou.” Yuuma shrugged. “Catch you later.”

\--

Well, that was everyone.

I made my way into the hotel, letting out a heavy sigh. There was no one in the foyer, for now – even the front desk was empty. I had a moment to breathe…

“Meow-wow, aren’t you a sorry sight!”

Or so I thought.

Monokitty appeared at the front desk, tucking a pair of red cat-eye glasses onto its face.  
“Welcome to the hotel! Come sign yourself in, kitten, and let’s shoot the breeze… or shoot a guest! I’m not picky!”  
I approached carefully. Monokitty huffed, pushing a registry book in front of me.  
“Honestly, you kids are impossible. All it takes to get off this island is one little murder! Sign here,” it tapped a line in the book. I picked up the pen on the desk, and wrote down my name.  
“Talent here.”  
I stilled. “… You know I can’t remember.”

Monokitty giggled. “Well, duh.  _I KNOW EVERYTHING._  Just write it down like in your guest e-handbook!”  
I pulled the e-handbook out of my bag, pressing the buttons to bring up my information.

“Hazuki Satou, Ultimate #$@!. Wonder what that stands for, nyu-hu-hu!” Monokitty chuckled into its paws. “Probably something  _evil_ , like Ultimate Arsonist, or maybe Ultimate Puppy Killer.”  
My cheeks burned with rage.  
“Though, between you and me, kitten,” Monokitty leaned in, “Puppies are one of my least favourite things, so thanks for doing me a big favour.”  
“What are you trying to do here?” I asked. Monokitty huffed.  
“Why, what a  _STUPID_ question! I’m signing you into the hotel!”  
“Why do you want to do that?”  
“Because  _DUMBASS,_ I’m the lone administrator here! Someone comes into the hotel, I have to sign them in! Rules are rules!”

I paused. Rules are rules, even for Monokitty?

“You’re programmed to do this?”  
Monokitty’s expression went flat, a red light blinking behind its eye.  
“… Don’t get any smart  ** _fucking_** ideas, kitten. I may be an A.I., but I hold all the cards here and  ** _don’t you forget it_**.”  
I felt my blood run cold. Its voice had become so threatening in a split second; I almost forgot there was nothing human in it.  
Seeing me sufficiently frightened, Monokitty brightened back up.

“Well, thanks for signing your name, Ultimate Killjoy! You’ll find your room number programmed into your guest e-handbook. Girls are all on the second floor, boys are all on the third. And don’t get any horny ideas about sneaking up to the boys floor! This isn’t  _that_ kind of hotel, got it!?”  
My cheeks turned red again, this time from shocked embarrassment. “I’d never do something like that!”  
Monokitty winked. “Sure, sure, and I’m a three-headed dog. I catch you on that floor after curfew, you’ll be sorry!”

On that ominous phrase, Monokitty disappeared into the floor. I looked around, hoping to spot where it went – but there was nothing.  
I decided to check out my room instead. I unlocked my e-handbook again, tapping the ‘Notes’ bar pinging at the top.

_ROOM NUMBER: 2-6_

I tapped the ‘Map’ bar after that, dragging to the second floor. The floor had nine rooms on it, mapping out the rectangular shape of the building. I checked the third floor as well, and found it to be a mirrored version of the second floor. There were also public restrooms on each floor; one for men and one for women.  
As I stood there, examining the layout, someone entered into the foyer.

“Hey Hazuki,” Daisuke said, raising a hand to wave, “What are you doing here?”  
Before I responded, Monokitty reappeared behind me at the desk.

“Welcome to the hotel! Come sign your name in, please and thank you!  _I HAVEN’T GOT ALL DAY!_ ”

A sour expression crossed Daisuke’s face, but he walked over, following Monokitty’s sharp instructions.  
“See, Hazuki?” Monokitty purred when all was finished, “Isn’t it  _so_ much better when you just follow instructions?”  
“Shut up,” Daisuke snapped, “Just get out of here, bot.”  
“Well, I never! How rude!” Monokitty steamed, pointing a paw at Daisuke’s face. “If it were up to me, kitten, you’d be half past dead right about now! But, no,” it chuckled into its paws, “let’s leave that for one of your fellow guests…”

It disappeared into the floor again. Daisuke turned to me, giving me a small smile.  
“I guess it picked on you too?”  
“You have no idea,” I said, wrapping my arms around my body. “It had to get in a few jabs about me… not remembering my talent.”  
Daisuke looked thoughtful, scratching his jaw. “Think it knows what happened?”  
“Honestly? I think it’s the reason none of us remember how we got here…”  
“It wouldn’t surprise me, either…”

We fell into silence, not really looking at each other. From the corner of my eye, I examined him a bit closer. Emi’s notes weren’t entirely incorrect; he  _was_ kind of cute, and definitely very dorky.  
“You should check your room number.” I said quietly. Daisuke nodded, withdrawing his e-handbook from his jacket pocket.  
“You moved it out of your bag?”  
“Yeah,” he nodded as he pressed the buttons, “Way easier than digging around in that mess. Looks like I’m staying in… room 3-7.”  
He showed me on the map; his room was right by the stairs, on the opposite side where mine was.

“What are the chances?”  
“Huh?” Daisuke tilted his head.  
“I’m down here,” I moved the map on his e-handbook, “just down the stairs.”  
“Well hey,” he smiled, “What do you know?”  
I couldn’t help but smile in return.

Then the front door opened.

“Oh! Hi Hazuki, hi Daisuke!” It was Suzume, with Setsuko on her heels. Daisuke moved away from me, smiling at the girls… but differently.  
“Hey ladies, how’s it going? Did you get a good look around the place?”  
“Good enough,” Setsuko said, folding her arms. “We did find something interesting.”  
“What did you find?” I asked.  
“The food in the restaurant; all of it was fresh.”

Fresh?  
That couldn’t be right… this island got crazier by the minute. How could it be equal parts decaying and brand new?  
“You’re sure about that?”  
Suzume nodded. “I checked everything I could get my hands on and then some. Definitely fresh.”  
“But that doesn’t make sense,” Daisuke said, brow furrowed. “There’s no one here to replace the food if it goes bad…”  
“I don’t know how it’s managed,” Setsuko sighed. “Either way, it does look like we won’t be going hungry any time soon.”  
“That doesn’t make much sense either, if Monokitty wants us to kill each other.”

Setsuko’s expression darkened.  
“No one is killing anyone.” She said the words with such a ferocity that Daisuke and I both flinched back from her.  
Suzume, on the other hand, brightened even more.  
“Yep, that’s right! We’re all going to just hang in there until someone comes to save us!”  
“And when that doesn’t happen?”

Yuuma had snuck into the foyer, levelling a mean-spirited smirk at the Himuras. Setsuko’s dark look didn’t fade for a second as she watched Yuuma like a hawk, letting Suzume cling to her side.  
Yuuma circled them, the overbearing size of his cello case making him even more intimidating.  
“How long are we going to be hanging in there before somebody snaps, huh? Do you think everything’s just magically gonna work out because your big sister says so?”  
Suzume didn’t respond. Yuuma scoffed, looking up at Setsuko.

“Heh, bet you’re going to go first.”  
“Excuse me?” Setsuko raised her eyebrow.  
“You heard me. You’re going to do it first. Either you’ll snap under the pressure, or someone’s going to try and get through you to her. Doesn’t really matter; I just know for sure it’s going to be you.”  
Setsuko’s response… was to crack her knuckles.  
“I don’t like your tone.”  
“Guys, please don’t fight,” I said, and Yuuma laughed in response.

“Fuck, you really  _are_ soft!” he walked past me and Daisuke, ascending the stairs. Once we heard the distant sound of a door opening and closing, we looked back at each other.  
“What an asshole.” Setsuko huffed.  
“I think he just likes to be cruel for the sake of doing it.” Daisuke said, giving them an apologetic smile. “You okay, Suzume?”  
Suzume, still half-buried in Setsuko’s side, nodded.  
“Listen, don’t worry about what he said,” Daisuke waved a hand, “Everything’s going to be fine. It’s just like Hazuki and Setsuko said; no one’s going to hurt anyone.”  
Suzume smiled at him, pink tinging her cheeks. She finally let Setsuko go, wiping non-existent tears from her eyes.

Setsuko removed her e-handbook from her pocket, checking something on her screen. She hummed, narrowing her eyes.  
“What’s wrong, Setsuko?”  
“… It’s nothing. I’m just surprised at how late it’s gotten all of a sudden.”  
I checked the time on my own e-handbook; somehow, it was already ten o’clock at night.  
“Oh, wow… That time already?” Daisuke looked over my shoulder. “In that case, I’m gonna turn in myself. How about we try and get everyone together for breakfast tomorrow?”  
“That’s a good idea,” I said.  
“I can cook pancakes!” Suzume smiled.  
“We’ll see what happens. Don’t get carried away, Suzume.” Setsuko said, still looking at her e-handbook. Suzume huffed, then made her way towards the stairs.  
“I’m going to see who’s already here and ask if they want to come. We’ll aim for bright and early at seven!”  
“Suzume –“

Suzume took off up the stairs before Setsuko could finish. Daisuke waved goodbye one more time, then left us alone.  
I looked back at Setsuko, still engrossed in her e-handbook.  
“What’s the matter?”  
She looked up at me for a moment, eyes narrowed as she seemed to… decide something, about me.

“… It’s just… My room is on the opposite side of the building from Suzume’s.”  
She showed me on the map; her room was on the far side of the building, tucked away in the corner. Looking closer, I could see a small pixelated version of her as a label. In the opposite corner, I saw the little pixelated Suzume.  
“She’s always been in the room next to mine,” Setsuko said, staring me down, “I don’t know if she’ll be all right with this.”  
“Maybe one of you could switch?” I suggested, looking who was in the rooms nearest to them…

I realised right away that wasn’t going to happen. The nearest room to Suzume was taken up by Shizuka, and nearest to Setsuko was Michiko.  
Asking them to move would be inviting disaster.  
“Well, I’m not too far away from her,” I said gently, aware of the slight change in Setsuko’s posture, “I could be a go-between, if she’s scared.”  
“You’d look after her?”  
“I don’t see why not… We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Setsuko didn’t seem to know how to react. She stared at me, completely confused.  
“… I… I, um… Thank you, Hazuki. That’s… very kind of you. I’ll discuss it with Suzume. Just… don’t be offended if she says no.”  
“You think she will?”  
Setsuko sighed.  
“I love my sister, but she’s… very picky about people,” she folded her arms, looking towards the stairs, “She’s not obvious about it, most of the time.”  
“You think she doesn’t like me?”  
“I’m sorry… but I know she doesn’t like you.”

Ouch.

“Oh… well, maybe we just need the chance to get to know each other.”  
Setsuko smiled – the tiniest, faintest smile, but I saw it – and shook her head slightly.  
“You’re very… optimistic.”  
I smiled back.  
“I don’t know how to be anything else but what I am.”

Setsuko raised her hand to her mouth. I realised, she was hiding her smile and soft laughter.  
“… Well. It’s getting late, as we saw. I should get upstairs, make sure Suzume settles in all right.”  
“Okay. I’ll go up, too – I don’t see much point in staying out too late.”

“And you shouldn’t!”

We both jumped, noticing the sudden Monokitty between us.

“Don’t you girls know?  _TERRIBLE THINGS_ happen in the dead of night! Violence, theft,  _MURDER_! Gosh, it gets my motor fluids pumping just thinking about it!”  
Setsuko stepped around the robot, putting herself between it and me.  
“Nyu, what’s this?” The cat tilted its head, raising a holographic question mark. “Ultimate Bodyguard just can’t take a break?”  
Setsuko said nothing. Monokitty shrugged in turn.  
“Well, do what you want, kitten! Just remember one teensy, tiny thing…”  
“And what’s that?” I asked. Monokitty giggled, looking me dead in the eyes.

**_“Putting your back to a killer is a bad idea.”_ **

As it disappeared once again, Setsuko looked over her shoulder at me.  
“… I think I’ll take my chances. Good night, Hazuki.”  
She turned to her left, walking around me towards the stairs. I waited until she’d finished climbing them before I made my own way up to my room.

\--

The room was… strange, to me. I hadn’t stayed in a lot of hotels growing up; my family didn’t travel very often, and when we did we usually stayed with family instead.  
The first few steps were along a hallway, leading to the open sleeping area, with a door on my right leading into a bathroom. There wasn’t a lot of furniture; a double bed, with a side table housing a lamp. A table holding a television across from it, and a chest of drawers.

Curious, I walked over to the drawers and opened them.

What I found was strange. There were clothes in there, but instead of being a variety of things I knew I owned, they were all identical copies of the clothes I was currently wearing. One pile of identical black dresses, one pile of identical blue off-the-shoulder sweaters.  
I closed it, and then noticed… my hands were shaking.  
_I_ was shaking.

Suddenly alone in this silent room, the situation I was in truly, finally hit me. Tears rolled down quickly down my cheeks as I collapsed on the bed.

I tried, desperately, to make sense of everything. What could I have done to be worth kidnapping? Forced into some sick ‘game’ where we would be forced to kill each other for escape?

… Could any of us do something like that?

I thought back over everyone I’d met – was there a single person in this group, who could kill someone and live with themselves afterwards?  
I couldn’t picture it. Even the ones who acted tough and cold, I couldn’t picture them being capable of murder.  
No, I thought, no one could do something like that. We’d survive here until someone came to rescue us.

Someone had to be coming.

I would repeat that in my head, over and over, as I got ready for bed. I found pyjamas in the drawers – again, two piles of identical garments – but just as I was getting ready to lie down, someone knocked on my door.

“Who is it?” I asked.  
“It’s Michiko. Open up, please.”  
I opened the door for her. She took a long look at my pyjamas, eyebrow raised.  
“S-sorry, I was… just about to go to bed.”  
“Oh. Then I’ll keep this short.”

I moved to let her in, but she raised her hand instead.

“Going on the Himuras’ suggestion, we’re meeting for breakfast at the restaurant, seven a.m. sharp. We’ll be discussing our situation in more detail, so make sure you actually get some sleep.”  
“O-okay.” I nodded. Michiko went to leave, but I stopped her.  
“What is it?”  
“It’s just… how long do you think we’ll be here? I mean, your family has to have someone looking for you, right?”  
Michiko stared at me, for a long moment. The longer it drew out, the more awkward and stupid I felt.

Finally, she replied.

“Honestly, I- and don’t tell  _anyone_ I said this… I don’t know.”  
“You don’t know?”  
“There’s a lot the public doesn’t know about my family,” Michiko said, with a bitter scowl, “and that’s all you need to know.”  
Apparently I’d offended her… again.  
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to – “  
“Don’t worry about it.” Michiko cut me off. “I’ll see you in the morning.”  
“Okay… Goodnight, Michiko.”  
After she left, I went back to bed with an idea.  
I grabbed my e-handbook out of my bag, opening the ‘Map’ tab as I settled under the covers.

Now that I had the time to look, I could see where everyone was staying.  
The hotel rooms were placed around the building in a fairly straightforward pattern. A room was placed on either side of the ascending stairs, one room in each of the four corners, and three rooms on the left, right and back side of the building, between the corner rooms. Checking the third floor, I found the layout to be identical.  
My room was on the left of the stairs. On the right side, opposite me, was Shizuka’s room. Down from Shizuka, in the corner, was Suzume’s, and in the corner nearest to me was Ai. Between Ai and Setsuko, who was in the back corner, was Kaoru. Michiko was at the far back, between Setsuko and Nana, and between Nana and Suzume was Emi.  
As for the boys, Daisuke’s room was on the right of where the stairs  _would_ be if there was a fourth floor. Opposite him, above me, was Jun. In the corner closest to Jun looked to be Yuuma, and the corner room closest to Daisuke was occupied by Fuyuki. In the opposite corners, it was Hikaru for Fuyuki, and Jirou for Yuuma. Between Yuuma and Jirou was Yosuke, between Hikaru and Fuyuki was Ryuu, and at the far back between Hikaru and Jirou was Keiji.

It gave me a headache just thinking about it. Trying to describe that out loud to someone… that felt impossible. Whoever designed this place must have had a thing about symmetry.  
Nonetheless, it felt like something I should know. If I knew where everyone was staying, it’d be easy to find someone if they were missing…  
I read the tabs at the top of the e-handbook; Guests, Map, Notes, Rules, and one unnamed tab that didn’t open no matter how much I pressed it.  
‘Guests’ was straightforward; a cohesive listing of the eighteen of us. Somehow, it included our ages, dates of birth, blood types, and even some likes and dislikes. I chuckled to myself at a few, like Emi’s dislike of vacuum cleaners, or Hikaru’s liking soft candies. Others were things I could have guessed easily; for example, Fuyuki liked ‘cute people’. I decided to move on before I knew too much about the others than I needed to. I wanted them to trust me before I knew things like that…  
The Map tab covered the entirety of the resort, but when I tried to look at the upper floors of the main building, they were glitchy and unreadable. I imagined that was Monokitty’s doing, so we wouldn’t get any ideas of trying to sneak up there. Not that there  _was_ any way up.  
The Notes tab only contained the note given about my room number. Useless for now.  
Rules, however, was very interesting. It was a consistent description of how Monokitty expected things to go around here… including the Killing Game.

  1. _EIGHTEEN GUESTS WILL STAY ON THE ISLAND, NO MORE AND NO LESS._
  2. _NONE OF THE GUESTS WILL LEAVE THE ISLAND WITHOUT PERMISSION._
  3. _ISLAND CURFEW IS 11 P.M. GUESTS MAY NOT ENTER THE MAIN BUILDING OR THE RESTAURANT AFTER THIS TIME. ALL DOORS WILL BE LOCKED AT 12 A.M._
  4. _ATTEMPTS TO BREAK INTO THE UPPER FLOORS OF THE MAIN BUILDING WILL BE SEVERELY PUNISHED._
  5. _IN ORDER TO GAIN PERMISSION TO LEAVE THE ISLAND, A GUEST MUST MURDER ANOTHER, AND BECOME ‘BLACKENED’._
  6. _MONOKITTY DOES NOT COUNT AS ‘ANOTHER’. ONLY GUESTS COUNT IN ORDER TO BECOME ‘BLACKENED’. VIOLENCE TOWARDS MONOKITTY WILL BE SEVERELY PUNISHED._



The first rule was interesting to me. The phrasing of it was so specific… it made me wonder if Monokitty’s controller was also staying on the island, in the upper floors of the main building. It made sense, if they would ‘severely punish’ anyone trying to get up there…  
While I considered it, the bell sound we’d heard earlier pinged through the speakers in the ceiling. The TV suddenly switched on, revealing Monokitty lounging on a beach chair.

“Good evening, honoured guests! It is now eleven p.m.! In one hour, all outer doors will be locked. Please return to your rooms, and sleep well!”

The TV was off as quickly as it had turned on. I sighed, putting my e-handbook down on the bedside table.  
There was really nothing else to do now, except sleep… Hopefully my dreams would be better than that awful nightmare.

And I hoped, beyond hope itself, that I’d wake up back in my own room, and all of this was a nightmare too.


	2. Chapter 1.1 - Daily Life: Common Interests

**CHAPTER ONE**

**DAILY LIFE: COMMON INTERESTS**

\--

My sleep was dreamless.

I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. I felt like I was in an abyss; floating in nothingness until I woke to the announcement bell.

“Good morning, kittens! It is now seven a.m.! Time to rise and shine for another mew-tiful day on our lovely resort!”

… _Mew-tiful_?

I was disgusted by the pun, but I still dragged myself out of bed. I had to get ready quickly; the breakfast meeting at the restaurant was supposed to be right now.  
But even if I moved quickly, it would still take time…

When I finally finished the last thing – putting my ribbon headband on – I checked the time on my e-handbook. 7:30!? Michiko was going to be so mad at me!  
I hurried out the door –

And crashed right into someone.

Kaoru and I collapsed into a pile on the floor.  
“Ow…”  
“Oh my gosh, Kaoru, I’m so sorry!”  
Kaoru grumbled, rubbing the back of her head. “Shit, that hurt… You’re sure sturdy for your size…”  
Footsteps came down the stairs on our left; Ryuu stopped next to us.  
“Whoa, what’s going on here? You girls okay?” He crouched down, offering us both a hand up. I got up first, and helped him with Kaoru as well.  
“Yeah, I’m okay,” Kaoru said, trying to straighten her clothes. “Hazuki just surprised me, that’s all…”  
“I’m so sorry!” I repeated. Ryuu chuckled.  
“Got a lot of power in that shorty body, huh?” He said, playfully nudging my shoulder. Kaoru giggled, and I felt a lot better.  
“Well, she must have to knock you down,” Ryuu looked down at Kaoru, “lot of muscle in dancers.”

Kaoru’s cheeks tinged pink. “That’s not what people usually say about my body.”  
Ryuu winked at her.  
“Well, since I’m guessing we’re all going to the same place, why don’t we walk together?” He offered. After we both nodded, he looked back up the stairs.  
“Hikaru, come on! We’re gonna be late if you don’t pick it up.”  
I looked up the stairs, and sure enough, there he was, peeking behind the corner of the wall. Ryuu must have coaxed him out of his room to bring him to the breakfast on time.

“Aw, he’s so shy.” Kaoru said with a gentle smile.  
“Sure is,” Ryuu nodded, “but he’s one of us, so I’m making sure he comes to the meeting.”  
Hikaru, like a stray cat approaching an offered treat, made his slow way down the stairs to us. When he was there, he completely avoided eye contact, shuffling on the spot.  
“… Good, good morning, everyone…”  
“Good morning, Hikaru.” Kaoru said, tilting her head down to try and see his face. Hikaru looked further away, and Kaoru straightened up.  
“All right, crew, let’s get moving.” Ryuu gestured towards the stairs. He went down first, followed by Kaoru, then Hikaru _very slowly_ went after her.  
I went to follow, but I felt… watched. I looked to my left…

And there was Nana, at the end of the hall, staring at me from around the corner.

“Nana?”  
“Hi hi…” she said, slowly walking over.  
“Did you… wait for everyone else to go?”  
“Well, no…” she said, stroking Chouko’s hair, “… I just waited for that nasty girl to go.”  
“… Kaoru?” I raised my eyebrow. “Kaoru’s not nasty, she’s really nice.”  
“I don’t mean she’s not nice, Hazuki… She’s _nasty_.”  
I thought about it for a moment, but I still wasn’t sure what she meant. Nana sighed, raising Chouko in front of her face.  
“Chouko says girls shouldn’t walk around with their shirts wide open.”  
It clicked.  
“Nana, it’s not nice to judge people by their clothes…”  
“Why not?” Nana lowered her doll, “The way people dress tells you a lot about them. I can take one look at her and know she’s desperate for attention. I can take one look at Fujinami and know she’s a stuck-up bitch, or one look at Kimihara and know he would rather crawl in a hole and die than make small talk.”  
“That’s not true,” I frowned at her, but she shrugged it off.  
“Well, whatever. It’s not like she’s ever going to talk to me, anyway. Should we go to breakfast now? I’m hungry.”  
I was speechless, so Nana shrugged again and walked down the stairs alone. I shook my head and headed down, running to catch up to her.  
The rest of the walk was silent.

When we got inside the restaurant, it was a lot busier. While the scents of cooking wafted from the kitchen, a few of the boys were moving tables around into one large assortment; we’d all be sitting together, like a banquet.  
I spotted Michiko across the room, tapping away at her e-handbook. She definitely looked angry, but she was using it to be productive rather than shouting at anyone in the room.  
Which was more than could be said for Yosuke and Fuyuki as they wrangled a table.

“You’re not lifting it enough!” Yosuke shouted.  
“I’m lifting it plenty, you idiot, you’re lifting it too much!” Fuyuki snapped back.  
“There’s no such thing as lifting it too much! I’m lifting it as much as I have to lift it, so lift it more on your end!”  
“Well maybe if I had goddamn ORANGUTAN ARMS like you do I could lift it more!”  
“Better orangutan arms than fucking PYGMY LEGS – “

“Less shouting, more moving.” Ai said, tapping her fingers on the table they were carrying. “You’re giving Fujinami a headache.”  
Shizuka nodded from her spot by the window, fingers on her temples. Yosuke and Fuyuki glared at each other, but they stopped arguing and continued to move the table into place.  
I approached Michiko, as she lowered her e-handbook.  
“Good morning, Michiko.”  
“Good morning,” she said, “did you sleep well?”  
“No, not really… How about you?”  
“No. And don’t worry about being late, either; the only ones that were on time were the Himura sisters, and myself.”  
“Well, I’d still like to apologize for it.”

Michiko stared at me for a moment, but her response was interrupted by the kitchen door opening up. Suzume peered out, looking at the two of us.  
“Can I get a couple of hands in here? I’m almost done, but, I need help bringing it all out.”  
“Sure,” Michiko nodded, “Who do you want?”  
“Um…” Suzume looked out at the others in the room. “Can I get… my sister, Daisuke, and… Ai?”  
Michiko turned around. “Excuse me, I assume you three heard her.”

The three requested guests headed into the kitchen.  
“Is there anything I can help with?” I asked, but Michiko shook her head.  
“I’ve already arranged everyone else. Once Harakawa and Takada finish getting the tables in place, they’ll get the chairs, and then Miyamoto and Fujinami will set everyone’s places. At this point, we’re honestly only waiting on Himura’s cooking.”  
I was excited, to be honest. Eating an Ultimate’s cooking was always a once-in-a-lifetime experience; every different one had their own unique flair, and their own favourite recipe.  
Since all the chores were well in hand, I waited out of everyone’s way, watching Yosuke and Fuyuki set out the chairs. Jun and Shizuka were next, setting out plates and cutlery for everyone.

“Is this really the only cutlery they had here?” Shizuka asked, inspecting a fork.  
“It was all we could find in the storeroom… Is something wrong with it?” Jun asked. I held my breath.  
“I just expected a supposed five-star resort to have more… elegant inventory.”  
“We can’t account for anything here being by design,” Michiko said, taking a seat at one end of the table.  
Shizuka stared at her with a harsh look.  
“… Do you have a problem, Fujinami?”  
“I thought you would be at the head of the table,” Shizuka gestured to said seat, “Do you have an issue with that place?”  
Michiko looked at the chair. She seemed… hesitant, to sit in that position. Too hesitant.  
“I’m fine where I am, thank you.”  
Shizuka narrowed her eyes, but she didn’t press the issue. It surprised me – she didn’t seem like the sort of person to not speak her mind. Maybe she liked Michiko too much to argue with her?  
“Did you pick a place out for everyone?” Emi asked from her spot against the wall. Shizuka nodded. She moved down the right-hand side of the table, stopping at the third from the end.  
“This is your seat.”

Shizuka moved all of us one by one into our seats. Apparently, she had to adjust somewhat since Michiko wouldn’t move to the head of the table, but she was a quick thinker.  
I felt a little awkward – Shizuka had put me on the end of the right-hand table, far away from her at the top. I didn’t want to believe it was intentional, but she had also placed Yosuke and Fuyuki opposite me, and she hadn’t been impressed with their volume.  
Not a minute later, the others brought the food out from the kitchen.

The smell was intoxicating. Suzume had outdone herself – a massive assortment of pancakes and muffins, both savoury and sweet. Setsuko also set out some plates of cut up fruit, and Ai brought out pitchers of water.  
“Now, let’s try to take it in turns!” Suzume chirped as she sat down. “I want to make sure everyone gets enough to eat!”

Somehow, her request was answered. No one took more than they had to, as much as we all wanted to.  
We all ate in relative silence, transfixed on the food given to us. I hadn’t realised how hungry I was until I’d arrived, but I remembered; none of us had eaten since yesterday. No wonder we demolished breakfast so quickly.  
After things calmed down in that regard, Michiko got our attention.

“We all need to discuss what’s happening here.”  
As we all looked to her, the mood shifted back down to tense anxiety.  
“As we all know, what we’re in is, essentially, a hostage situation.” Michiko rested her elbows on the table, hands clasped in front of her. “The only demand our kidnappers have given… is that one of us kill another.”  
She turned to us in our shocked silence. It was still so hard to believe…

“I can’t speak for all of you, but I don’t plan on killing, or being killed.”

“Yeah, that’s honestly kind of fucking obvious,” Yuuma said, drawing circles on his plate with his fork. “None of us wants to die in this shithole.”  
Michiko frowned at him. “Well, if it’s so obvious to you, what’s your plan?”  
Yuuma shrugged. “I don’t know. But I know your plan is to boss us around until help shows up.”  
We all looked to Michiko.  
“You can call it whatever you want, but we need to work together here. I’m offering to take the lead only because I doubt someone like you can do it.”  
“I could do it,” Yuuma scoffed, “I just don’t want to. You guys can do whatever the fuck you want, just leave me out of it.”  
“So you’re more interested in being snarky and mean than surviving as part of the group?” Setsuko asked across from him. Yuuma levelled her with a cold stare, but she didn’t even flinch.

She just looked unimpressed.

“Do whatever you want, then,” she said, lifting her drink to her mouth.  
“If you two are done,” Michiko leaned forward, “what other information do we have?”  
“Well, did everyone see the Rules tab in their e-handbook?” I asked. A few nods, a few shaken heads.  
“Rule four cuts us off a lot. ‘Attempts to break into the upper floors of the main building will be severely punished’. So we can cross that off our list of ideas.”  
“Then, what are we supposed to do?” Nana asked, staring into her own e-handbook. “There’s nothing to do around here, and we can’t get into the main building, so, we just… sit and wait?”  
“I believe you are right,” Shizuka said sadly. “We have nothing to do but pass the time.”

Yuuma stood up, his chair scraping against the floor. “In that case, I’m out of here.”  
“Where are you going?” Keiji asked, but Yuuma shrugged.  
“Wherever you guys aren’t works for me.”

We all watched him as he left. After the door slammed shut, the window rattling slightly with the force, we looked back at each other.  
“Well, if there really is nothing else we can do… perhaps we can check our rooms for entertainment we can share?” Jirou suggested, pushing his glasses up his nose.  
“That’s a good idea,” Emi smiled. “Let’s see what we can find!”

As everyone left at different paces, I waited in my seat at the table. I wanted to get to know everyone… but I wasn’t good at doing that in large groups. I’d rather wait and talk to someone one-on-one…

Now was a good time to talk to Suzume. She’d taken it upon herself to clean up after breakfast; at first I thought it was a kind gesture, but it could also have been a way to keep herself safe.

I entered the kitchen carefully, making sure not to startle her.

“Hey, Suzume?”  
“Oh, hi Hazuki!” she turned to me with a smile. “Is everything okay?”  
“Yeah, it’s fine. I was just wondering if you’d like a hand with the dishes. It’d give us a chance to talk.”

Suzume hummed, thinking it over.  
“… I guess that’s okay. Would you like to wash or dry up?”

Between the two of us, we got the dishes done in record time.

“Phew!” Suzume wiped her forehead once we were all done. “Thanks for the help, Hazuki. I’d have asked Setsuko, but she’s terrible at dishes.”  
“How can she be terrible at dishes?” I laughed.  
“Surprisingly easily,” she said, pulling up a stool to sit on. “Phew…”  
“You don’t normally have to clean up after eighteen people, do you?” I asked, sitting on the bench across from her.  
Suzume shook her head, her hair ornaments clicking together.  
“At home, I don’t even have to clean up after my baking. Everyone else just… does it for me. It was kind of the same at school, too.”  
“You only just graduated this last year, right?”  
She nodded. “I was so excited, too. After this trip, I was going to try and open my own bakery.”

“That sounds amazing,” I smiled. Suzume brightened in response.  
“I had so many great ideas! All I really needed was a name and a location. There was this really cute little building near my house, it used to be a café, but it’d be easy to convert it.”  
I listened to her ramble about her ideas for a while – she was so passionate about her plans for the future, it was easy to get swept up in them.  
But something was starting to bother me.

“What about Setsuko?”  
Suzume froze. “… Well, I mean… she’s going to be, you know, doing bodyguard stuff…”  
“But you kept talking about her in all of your bakery plans…”  
She slumped in her stool, at a loss for words.  
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” I tried to bring her back, but she waved her hands.  
“No, no, no, it’s okay! I guess I didn’t really think about it that way. I mean, we do all have to grow up sometime, right?”  
She wrung her hands in her lap, staring down at her shoes. “I guess… Setsuko’s never been far away from me. Even at school, I knew she was only a few rooms away.”  
“You’ve never been alone before?”  
Suzume looked up at me. “It’s more like… she’s a part of me, like another limb.”  
“Well, you are very close. I’m sure Setsuko has a hard time being without you, either.”

Suzume smiled at that. “Oh, she falls apart without me. I’m sure she hasn’t thought of us ever being separated either.”  
I wasn’t sure if I could agree with her, but I had to admit, I didn’t know either of them that well just yet. Maybe I should talk to Setsuko a bit more, too… but before that, I remembered something else.

“Are you okay with your rooms being so far apart, Suzume?”  
Suzume pulled a face.  
“Not really… I could barely sleep last night, I was so scared.”  
“Well, Setsuko had a suggestion; I don’t know if she talked to you yet…”  
“About coming to you if I was scared? Yes, we talked about it…” Suzume paused, thinking her words over carefully.

“… No offence, but, I don’t know if I will for sure. It’s nice knowing it’s an option, though, so… we’ll say maybe?”  
“Sure, we can say maybe. Just knock on my door if you need anything.”  
“To be honest, though?” She laughed. “I’m more likely to run all the way around to Setsuko. I know she’ll protect me; that’s just what she does.”  
I nodded. “You’re lucky to have her.”  
“I am,” Suzume nodded in turn, “I really… am.”

\--

I left Suzume in the kitchen soon after; apparently just being in there caused her ‘baker’s inspiration’ to kick in. I barely caught the words ‘strawberry cheesecake’ before she shooed me out of her workspace.  
I’d barely taken two steps out of the restaurant before I ran into someone.

“Ah! I’m sorry!” I apologised before I saw who it was.  
“Hey, it’s okay,” Daisuke smiled at me, “I hear you’ve been running into a few people lately.”  
“Oh, you heard about this morning?” I went red.  
“Ryuu asked Keiji to check her for bruises,” Daisuke said, tapping the back of his head, “I just happened to be with him. Don’t worry too much; you apologised, and Kaoru just thought it was funny.”  
I still put my face in my hands. “Oh gosh… I swear I’m not this clumsy, normally…”  
Daisuke laughed as he put his hands in his pockets.  
“What were you doing in there for so long?”  
“I was talking to Suzume,” I answered, “but… how did you know how long I was in there?”

“Aha… No, no reason, really.” Daisuke looked away, out towards the ocean. “Just… no, no reason, honest.”  
I smiled softly. “Were you waiting for me?”  
I would swear, up and down for the rest of my life, that Daisuke blushed. But it was gone in a split second when he turned back to me with a cheeky grin.  
“Maybe a little. Where are you headed now?”  
“I didn’t have anywhere in mind. Why?”  
“Well, uh, I was… thinking…”

The restaurant door suddenly opened.  
“Excuse me!” Suzume announced, bright and bubbly, “I don’t mean to interrupt, but I need your help with something, Daisuke.”  
“Oh, sure,” Daisuke smiled at her. “What’s wrong?”  
“Just need help getting a few things off the higher shelves. You don’t mind, right?”  
“Not at all. I’ll have to catch you later, Hazuki.” Daisuke waved, heading into the restaurant.

I thought I saw, for a moment, a rather… nasty smirk on Suzume’s face as she turned from me. But it felt so surreal – clearly, my mind was playing tricks on me.

“Hazuki.”

I jumped at the voice. Setsuko had appeared beside me out of nowhere.  
“How… how do you move so… quietly!?”  
“It’s a gift,” she replied, but her expression remained empty.  
I exhaled, willing my heartbeat to slow down. “Is everything okay?” I asked her.

Setsuko’s reply was slow. Her face showed a small range of similar emotions – frustration, fear, confusion – before settling on concern.  
“It’s… hard to describe. I need your help.”  
“Well, I’m happy to. What’s wrong?”  
“Nothing with me personally, but… well… come with me, I’ll show you.”

It was ominous, but I trusted her. We walked together, along the path to the main building. Setsuko opened the door for me…

And I instantly knew what was wrong.

Ai was sitting on the edge of the fountain, staring up at Michiko, who was flanked by Shizuka and Jirou.  
Even if no one else was there, the look being traded between Michiko and Ai was enough to signify trouble – trouble that Setsuko didn’t know how to end peacefully.  
“I’m sorry to make you do this,” she whispered to me, “but they’ve been like this since breakfast finished.”  
“It’s okay,” I whispered back, “I’ll see what’s going on.”

As I approached, the argument became clearer.  
“I’m not telling you again, Ueda.” Ai said in a warning tone.  
“And I’m not telling _you_ again, Matthews,” Michiko replied, “If you don’t hand it over, you’re putting everyone in danger.”  
Shizuka turned to me as I got close. “Hello, Miss Hazuki. Come to work your magic?”  
“What’s going on?”

The others turned to me then. Michiko groaned, realising what I would try to do.  
“Well, maybe you can talk sense into her. I told her to hand over that weapon, and she says she won’t do it. She’s just being stubborn.”  
“Because it’s not any safer in your hands!” Ai replied. “Actually, it’s worse off with you than it is with me, but you won’t listen to anyone but yourself.”  
I looked down at Ai – she was frustrated, tears in her eyes. I didn’t blame her; no one was on her side.  
“Ai, it’s okay,” I put my hand on her shoulder, “We can sort this out together. We don’t have to argue about it.”  
“Don’t start, Satou,” Michiko said, her arms firmly folded.  
“Can you at least listen to her reasoning, Michiko?” I turned around, frowning at her. “You can’t call her stubborn when you’re the one who won’t listen.”  
Michiko’s cheeks burned with embarrassment. Shizuka and Jirou both looked at her, waiting for her answer.  
“… F-fine. Why do you think it’s better off in your hands – the one person on this island who knows how to use it?”

Ai took a deep breath.  
“It’s _because_ I know how to use it. If I hand it over to you, or leave it in my room, it could get stolen. Stolen by someone who doesn’t know how to use it. And then what happens?”  
We were quiet for a moment, until Ai continued.  
“What happens is someone gets hurt. If I know where it is, if it’s always in my holster, I’m responsible for it.”

We all looked at Michiko. She stood there, quietly contemplating Ai’s words.  
“… Wow, I, I didn’t… think you’d put so much thought into it.”  
“We know why we’re here, Ueda,” Ai frowned, “Of course I put thought into it. It’s a _gun_ and our captors want us to kill each other. Why wouldn’t I put thought into it?”  
Michiko cleared her throat.  
“All right. If you’re… you’re sure you can keep it out of harm’s way, you can hold onto it. But if things get any worse – “  
“They won’t,” Ai said firmly.

With that, it was over. Michiko walked off, Shizuka and Jirou following her.  
Ai’s tension faded away, and she rubbed her forehead.  
“Thanks, Hazuki,” she mumbled, “I can’t deal with people like her.”  
“It’s all right,” I said with a small smile, “I think she just isn’t used to people talking back to her.”  
“I don’t know where she got this idea that she’s the boss around here,” Ai shook her head as I sat down next to her, “Just because she’s naturally bossy.”  
I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Well, it’s not really a bad thing, is it? Having someone willing to take charge?”  
“You’re too nice, Hazuki.” Setsuko sat down on my left. “Her idea of taking charge isn’t for anyone’s benefit but her own. Not to mention those two; Fujinami and Akiyama.”  
“You have a problem with them, too?”  
“Why did they have to corner Ai? Outnumber her?” Setsuko turned to me, genuinely seeking an answer.

I didn’t have one.

Ai sighed. “Look, thanks for helping me out, but I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Let’s just… move on with our lives. Okay?”  
Setsuko and I nodded to her. Ai stood up, stretching her arms above her head before she turned back to me.  
“By the way… thanks. For trusting me.”  
I smiled at her. “No problem at all, Ai.”

Setsuko still sat by me after Ai left. As the door to the building closed, she spoke in a hushed whisper.  
“Thank you for coming, Hazuki.”  
“It wasn’t any trouble,” I said, leaning forward. “I wouldn’t want to see them fighting either.”  
“It’s not just that,” Setsuko looked down at her hands, folded neatly in her lap. “You followed me here without even knowing why I asked you.”  
“You don’t think I should have?”  
“Most people would ask why. I don’t know if you’re kind or just naïve.”  
I laughed a little, surprised she was so blunt about it.  
“Do you think that’s a bad thing?”  
“In this situation of ours? Yes.”

My smile faded away to nothing. Shizuka had said something similar, yesterday – that I was an easy target. Perhaps I was too trusting… but on the other hand, if we all started suspecting each other, how long until the paranoia turned deadly?  
I didn’t want that. I wanted to trust in everyone. I wanted them to trust me, and each other. If we could trust each other, no one had to get hurt.  
No one had to die.

Setsuko sighed softly. “You don’t plan on changing your mind.”  
I shook my head. “Not one bit.”  
“Well, just be a little careful,” she said, standing up. “We don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”  
“I don’t want anything bad to happen either,” I said, “Not to anyone.”  
She looked down at me, her expression almost unreadable.  
“… I should go check on Suzume. Stay safe, Hazuki.”  
“You too.”

I walked outside with Setsuko, then we went opposite ways; she headed to the restaurant, I went back to the hotel.  
I checked the time on my e-handbook; it was already one o’clock in the afternoon. How was the time going so quickly?  
I still had time to hang around with someone… I just had to pick who.

Maybe whoever I found back in the hotel…

\--

Or maybe not.  
The only people sitting in the hotel lobby were Michiko, Jirou and Shizuka.  
And judging by the warning look Shizuka gave me, I would be better off leaving them alone.

I quickly went upstairs, making sure not to disturb them any longer than necessary-

And, once again, I collided with someone at the top of the stairs.  
Luckily, my momentum kept me from falling backwards, and Fuyuki’s centre of gravity was much sturdier than Kaoru’s.  
“S-sorry!”  
“Glad I caught you,” Fuyuki said, straightening my posture with a wink and a smile. “I’d rather you fell for me in a less literal way, know what I mean?”  
“Very funny, Fuyuki.” I smiled. “What are you doing?”  
“Pacing, honestly,” he said, smoothing out his suit sleeves, “The atmosphere downstairs is… pretty, pretty tense. Someone’s ticked off Michiko again.”  
I gave him a sheepish look, and he snickered.  
“I had a feeling. Want to come upstairs with me? There’s a nice couple of chairs with a window view; if we hurry, we can beat Miyamoto to it.”  
“Sounds like a plan. Let’s go.”

\--

The seats were nice; two cream-coloured armchairs, diagonally facing the windows. A dark brown rug was underneath them, along with a coffee table holding a lovely vase of flowers.  
“This must be why Jun likes this spot…” I said, gently touching the flower petals. “He was so upset about the plants outside yesterday.”  
Fuyuki took his seat carefully – he must have wanted to keep his suit as nice as possible.  
“Can’t expect different from the Ultimate Florist,” he agreed.  
I took my own seat, sighing as I got comfortable.  
“So, I have to ask, Miss Hazuki,” Fuyuki leaned forward, staring intently at me. “Is this… a normal look for you?”  
“Excuse me?” I looked over.  
“Your outfit; it’s well put-together, but I don’t know if I’d say it’s really… _you_.”

I looked down at my clothes.  
“Well, yes, it is a normal look for me…”  
“Did you find your drawers full of identical sets, too?”  
“I thought it’d be the same for everyone else!” I looked up. Fuyuki was still eyeing my clothes, an odd look in his eyes.  
“… Fuyuki?”  
“Hm? Sorry, sorry… I was, uh, gone for a bit.”  
“Why?” I felt a little… flustered, under his inspection.  
“Well, I won’t lie; you’re pretty.” Fuyuki rested his chin on a hand, still examining me. “I’d love the chance to use my talents on you one day… Imagine that, hm?”  
“Holy crap, Takada, can you get any creepier?” Yosuke’s sharp voice cut through the awkwardness as he came wandering down the hallway, hands in his pockets.  
Fuyuki snapped out of his daze, turning around to snap back.  
“I’m not a creep, damn it Harakawa!”  
Yosuke laughed, leaning on the back of Fuyuki’s chair. “So, Satou, is he creepy or is he creepy?”  
“Don’t put her on the spot like that! Now who’s being creepy?”  
Yosuke rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses, smirk plastered on his face.

I couldn’t help laughing. These two were hilarious – they argued, sure, but it was more like… old friends, than enemies.  
“See, she’s laughing! I’m not creepy!”  
“You are incredibly creepy, Takada. Accept it.”  
I kept laughing, but I managed to get a response out.  
“N-no, no… You’re, you’re not creepy, Fuyuki!”  
“AHA!” Fuyuki pointed at me, then up at Yosuke. “You lose!”  
Yosuke poked his tongue out, making an obscene noise. “Whatever, she’s too nice to tell you the truth.”  
I breathed, calming myself down. “Am I really too nice?”

The two looked at me, both bearing a sympathetic look that told me ‘yes’.  
“Oh boy…” I slumped in my chair, “… I’m hearing that a lot.”  
“Nothing wrong with it,” Yosuke shrugged, “Why are you worried?”  
I didn’t know how to tell them. So I didn’t say anything; just shrugged, helpless.  
“Well, in that case, it’s better not to worry about it.” Yosuke said, waving his hand. Fuyuki nodded in agreement.  
“Thanks, guys,” I smiled. Fuyuki put his hands to his chest in a dramatic motion, sighing theatrically.

“Look at her, Harakawa,” he said, “She’s precious.”  
“And there you go again, creepshow.” Yosuke shook his head, “A pretty girl smiles, you don’t have to make it weird.”  
“You’re just mad that she’ll smile around me and not you.”  
Yosuke cuffed the back of his head, knocking his hat off. “Hey, she’s smiling at both of us!”

\--

Time passed quickly here, I was starting to realise. By the time I was done talking to Fuyuki and Yosuke, it was already six o’clock. I had no idea where all those hours went, but it only ended because Shizuka came to fetch us for dinner.

“Who cooked this time? We’re not going to work Suzume to the bone, are we?” I asked, and Shizuka shook her head.  
“No, no. She has provided the dessert, but dinner itself was prepared by Ikeda and Nakano.”

Emi and Nana? I could picture Emi dabbling in cooking, but Nana… not so much.  
“I hope it is edible,” Shizuka said, as if reading my thoughts, “but I doubt it will be as delicious as breakfast was.”  
“If I know those two – which I don’t, I will be the first to point that out – It’ll be something basic, made interesting with too much added spice.” Yosuke said.  
“Are we taking bets, now?” Fuyuki asked, “because I bet it’ll be overly complicated.”  
“Nakano does seem complicated.” Yosuke nodded.

“That’s not nice.”

We all jumped, realising Nana had appeared amongst us like a ghost.  
“What are you doing out here, Nakano?” Shizuka asked, flinching away from her. Nana held Chouko in front of her face.  
“Chouko thought I should get some fresh air before you all say mean things about the cooking.”  
“You don’t really think we’re going to do that, do you Nana?” I asked.  
“Chouko knows a liar when she sees one.”  
Shizuka scoffed, storming off towards the restaurant.  
“Chouko also knows a _bitch_ when she sees one.” Nana grumbled, too quiet for Shizuka to hear.  
“Nana,” I scolded her, but she lowered the doll and looked at me with puppy-dog eyes.  
“What is it, Hazuki?”  
“You just said…”  
Nana tilted her head. “ _I_ didn’t say anything.”

Before I had a chance to respond, she’d turned and wandered off towards the restaurant.  
I turned to Fuyuki and Yosuke, both at a loss for words.  
“She’s… interesting.” Fuyuki finally said, with a shrug.  
“That’s one way of putting it. C’mon, I’m hungry.” Yosuke said, resuming his stride.  
Fuyuki gestured for me to go first, and so I did.  
It would be interesting to see what kind of thing someone like Nana could cook… and someone like Emi. I could hardly picture the two of them cooperating, especially not in a kitchen.

\--

Shizuka’s seating arrangements from breakfast were still firmly in place, but there was a lot more conversation between us as we ate.  
I was pleasantly surprised by the girls’ cooking. Emi had made a chicken stir fry – simple and straightforward, but still delicious – and Nana had opted to make several varieties of sushi that were equally tasty and creative.  
I looked over at her, during dinner. She seemed… confused, that everyone liked her cooking. She stared down at her plate, not looking up even when a few of us tried to talk to her.  
Yuuma didn’t come, either. No one had expected him to, but it was worrying to think of him starving just to stay away from us.

Once we’d finished dinner, Suzume hurried into the kitchen, no doubt to fetch whatever she’d worked on all afternoon. I decided to ask about Yuuma while she was gone.  
“Well, I did see him in the hotel garden before we came here,” Jirou answered, “but he didn’t answer me when I called his name. I think he’s set in his decision to avoid us.”  
“I tried to get him to come, too,” Ai said, leaning back in her chair, “but just like you said, Akiyama, he wouldn’t even look up.”  
“Don’t bother with him, Satou,” Michiko said, from the end of the table. “If he wants to be alone, who cares?”  
“Well, he still needs to eat…”  
“Then he can come here when dinner is made, or he can make his own later.”  
“But…”

I was cut off by a shriek from the kitchen.

“Suzume!”  
Setsuko moved the fastest, her chair clattering to the floor as she rushed into the kitchen. The rest of us followed, but there was something of a traffic jam by the door.

“Mm, mm, mm! Gotta say, kitten, you Ultimates sure make good cake!”  
Monokitty sat in the kitchen, gobbling handful after handful of Suzume’s cheesecake.  
“But how could you be so cruel, not sharing it with your favourite cat?”  
Suzume was in shock. She stared at Monokitty’s destruction, small and miserable sounds falling from her mouth.  
Setsuko stormed towards Monokitty, her hands balled into fists.

“Whoa-whoa! Hey!”

Monokitty jumped away from Setsuko’s attempted grab, disappearing into shadows again. Setsuko growled, slamming her fist on the countertop.  
Emi hurried in to the room, her hands on Suzume’s shoulders.  
“Monokitty ruined… ruined everything…”  
“It’s okay, Suzume! We can try again tomorrow!”  
Suzume dissolved into tears – awful, childish wailing that drew Setsuko right over to her.

Michiko turned to the rest of us. She sighed heavily, shaking her head.  
“Well… I guess… that’s it for tonight. Setsuko and Emi can take care of her.”  
“Chouko wants to know who’s cleaning up.” Nana said, behind her doll.  
“Well, I think _you_ should be asking that question.” Michiko glared down at her, but Nana didn’t flinch. She did lower Chouko from her face, at least.  
“Fine. Who’s cleaning up?”  
“Well, considering you were kind enough to cook for us despite your… attitude,” Shizuka said, staring down her nose at Nana, “I believe you should not have to clean up.”  
“I-I’m happy to help out,” Jun raised his hand, before anyone got further insulted.  
“Yeah, I’ll clean up, too.” Daisuke said.  
“Anyone else?” Michiko asked. I raised my hand, at the same time as Jirou.  
“All right, that settles it. Thank you for volunteering; I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

Once everyone had cleared out of the dining area, Jun, Jirou and I began piling the empty plates together while Daisuke checked on things in the kitchen. After a moment, the three girls walked out, Suzume protected under Setsuko’s arm.  
Daisuke opened the door to the kitchen, propping a chair against it so we could easily pass through. Jirou took the first pile of plates in, Jun took the second, and I took the third.

“How did we use so many plates?” Daisuke asked.  
“Well, let me see,” Jirou looked at the piles. I tried counting them myself, but I had barely gotten started when he turned back to us.  
“Forty-two.”  
“Isn’t that a meaningful number?” Jun asked as he turned on the water.  
While Jirou began a lengthy discussion with Jun over the relevance of the number forty-two to mathematics along with popular culture and numerology (his words, not mine), I set about my secret project.  
I found a clean, empty container, and brought it over to the leftover food. There were still three sushi servings left – each one had a cute, animal design on them. Carefully, I put them into the container, just as Daisuke came over.  
“What are you doing with those? Sneaky midnight snacks?”  
“No, nothing like that,” I shook my head, “I’m going to take these to Yuuma.”  
“… Wait, what? Why?” Daisuke frowned.  
“Well, he needs to eat something,” I said with a smile, “And there’s no point letting them go to waste.”  
Daisuke’s frown didn’t change.

“Hazuki,” Jun interrupted, gently, “can I ask you to dry the dishes, please?”  
“Oh, of course! I’m sorry, I got distracted…”  
“Oh, that’s okay. Just as long as you do remember to help a little…”

\--

“Forty-two plates… is too many plates.”

Daisuke announced it when we were finally done.  
Jun had taken the biggest hit and washed the plates. Jirou and I dried them, and Daisuke put them away – he was taller than all of us, so he could put them away easily.  
We all took a moment to rest afterwards. Jun wrung his hands – his knuckles and fingertips had turned bright pink, almost the same colour of his jacket.  
“What time is it?” Jirou asked, taking his glasses off.

I took my e-handbook out of my bag, pressing it once.  
“It’s nine thirty… We should get a move on back to the hotel, huh?”  
“Sure, sure.” Daisuke nodded. “Don’t forget your olive branch.”  
“Daisuke,” I scolded him. Daisuke put his hands up.  
“Olive branch? What’s going on?” Jun asked.  
“Hazuki’s going to make sure Watanabe actually eats something.”  
Jun smiled. “That’s kind of you, Hazuki. I don’t think he’s had anything since this morning; he’ll appreciate it.”  
“Not that he’ll say so,” Jirou said, “if he even opens his door.”  
“He’s never going to come around if this is how we think about him,” I said, watching Jirou’s face gain a sheepish, guilty look.  
“I don’t think it’s up to us to make him ‘come around’,” Daisuke said, “but come on. If you’re going up to the boys’ floor, I’ll keep an eye on you.”  
“We should still head back together,” Jirou said, trying to look casual. “Safety in numbers is statistically proven.”

\--

The trip back to the hotel was uneventful – since it was getting close to curfew, I figured everyone had just settled in their rooms for the night. We didn’t find anyone in the foyer, or see anyone on the first floor as we climbed the stairs.  
Jirou took to the right, saying his goodbyes as he headed to his own room. Jun gave us a quiet goodnight as well – his room was exactly above mine, so only a few steps from the stairs.  
Daisuke stayed a few steps behind me as I approached the left corner room – Yuuma’s room.

I knocked on the door. I couldn’t hear anything from inside, as long as I waited.  
I knocked again. Surely he could hear me. He wouldn’t have gone to sleep so early, not without eating…  
Daisuke came up beside me as I knocked the third time.  
“He’s not answering, Hazuki.”  
“Yuuma? Are you awake?” I called out. Daisuke put his hand on my shoulder.  
“Hazuki – “

“What do you want?”  
The door had opened a crack; just enough for Yuuma to peek through, frowning at us.  
“I brought you some dinner.”  
“Why?” His frown grew. “Are you trying to poison me?”  
“Wha- no! I thought you’d be hungry, since you didn’t come to eat with the rest of us. Jirou and Ai said they tried to get you, but…”  
“But I ignored them. On purpose. Because like I said, I don’t want to hang around with you people.”  
“Hey, she’s just trying to do something nice for you,” Daisuke said, pointing in Yuuma’s face.  
“She’s _just trying_ to make everyone think she’s nice,” Yuuma snapped back. “It’s got nothing to do with me.”

I felt awful, standing there like a deer in headlights as they argued about my intentions. My chest and throat burned in embarrassment, and my eyes were watering.  
I wasn’t sure why, but I’d had enough.  
I stepped forward, forcing the food container into Yuuma’s hand whether he liked it or not.

“Do what you want with it. I hope you eat it, because you should eat something, but… but do whatever you want. Good night.”

He stared down at me, startled into silence. I didn’t wait for any response; I turned on my heel, avoiding looking at him or Daisuke as I hurried towards the stairs.  
I heard Daisuke follow me, but I got all the way to my door before he caught me by the arm.

“Hazuki,” he spoke slowly and carefully, “what was that about? Are you okay?”  
“I’m sorry,” I said, wiping my eyes, “I don’t know what came over me. I really don’t.”  
“Listen,” he said, turning me around to face him, “Yuuma doesn’t know you. You don’t owe him anything. So the only one who can say why you are kind to him is you.”  
I looked up at him. There was such a gentle look in his eyes, as he wiped a tear from my face.  
“… Thanks, Daisuke.”  
“It’s okay. It’s what you need to remember…”

He tilted his head, a thoughtful look on his face.  
“… This is going to sound weird, but…”  
“What is it?”  
“Well, it’s just… I feel like…”

“Excuse me.”  
We jumped apart, turning to Suzume, standing in the hallway in her pyjamas with a pillow clutched in her hands. She stared at us with no expression – it was creepy.  
“Hey, Suzume.” Daisuke said, smiling kindly at her. She didn’t return it.  
“Are you all right?” I asked her, and she shook her head.  
“I… I was scared, so I came… to you.”  
“Oh! That’s okay!”  
Daisuke raised his eyebrow at me.  
“Setsuko’s all the way at the other end of the building,” I explained, “so I told Suzume she could come to my room if she gets scared.”  
Daisuke gave me a weary smile with a sigh. “That’s very… nice, of you.”  
I gave him a sheepish smile back.  
“Well, you two better get to bed then. I’ll see you in the morning; good night.”

“Good night!”  
“Good night.”

Daisuke left, heading up the stairs as I went to open my door. Suzume watched him go as she walked over to me, still incredibly quiet. I wondered what had scared her so much – or maybe she was still upset from Monokitty’s antics earlier. Either way, I didn’t want to make it worse by pressing her to talk about it.  
I let Suzume into the room first, then followed her inside.

“Thanks for letting me come in, Hazuki.”  
“Oh, no problem at all, Suzume. I told you, you’re always welcome here.”  
“Well, it’s just…”  
She sat down on the edge of the bed, looking up at me.

“I thought you were going to let Daisuke in.”

My cheeks flushed red. She really thought I’d just… let a _boy_ in my room?  
“No, we were just talking outside.”  
“It looked a little more like something else than talking.”  
“Well, it wasn’t anything else.”  
Suzume gave me a thin smile. “Really?”  
“Really.”  
“Well, that’s… fine. At least you’ve got some standards.”

Before I could ask her what that meant, the bell alarm sounded through the building.

“Good evening, honoured guests! It is now eleven p.m.! In one hour, all outer doors will be locked. Please return to your rooms, and sleep well!”

Suzume’s smile faded away. “Do you think it’ll make me go back to my room?”  
“Well, there’s nothing in the rules that says you have to sleep in your own room. Unless it personally shows up to say so, I think we’ll be okay.”  
“I don’t like that thought much either…” Suzume hugged her pillow closer.  
“It’ll be fine, Suzume. Let’s just get to sleep, okay? I’m going to go change.”

In the brief time it took me to gather my pyjamas, head to the bathroom, change, and come back out, Suzume had already fallen asleep on her half of the bed. She still hugged the pillow closely, her breathing quiet and steady.  
I moved as quietly as possible, switching out the lights and climbing into my own side of the bed.

Today wasn’t so bad. It was a little tense, sometimes, but not as scary as yesterday. Hopefully, tomorrow would be even better, and then the next day better than that… Maybe we’d even be rescued soon.

With that new hope in my heart, I fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 1.2 - Daily Life: Common Interests

“Good morning, kittens! It is now seven a.m.! Time to rise and shine for another mew-tiful day on our lovely resort!”

As I blinked the sleep from my eyes, I felt a wave of disgust at that pun. Not only was it awful, it was going to play every morning?  
I sat up, stretching. Next to me, Suzume squirmed from her side to her back, grumbling nonsensical noises.  
“Good morning, Suzume.”  
“Urgh. Good morning, Hazuki.” She answered, rubbing one eye. “What do you think we’re doing today?”  
“Probably nothing… again.”  
Suzume laughed as she climbed out of bed. “With extra nothing on top… Well, I’m going to get back to my room. Thanks for this.”  
“That’s okay,” I smiled, “Feel free to stay here any time.”

\--

Once I was ready for the day, I headed out to see who I could find to talk to.  
I didn’t have to go far; I found Nana sitting in the hotel lobby, running a tiny comb through Chouko’s hair.  
“Good morning, Nana.”  
Nana tilted her head towards me, but she didn’t take her eyes off her work. “Good morning, Hazuki. You can come sit down if you want, I don’t care.”  
Her choice of words was… a little callous, but I took her offer and sat on the armchair next to her. I took a good look at her; she seemed exhausted.  
“Are you okay, Nana? You look tired…”  
Nana looked over to me, her mouth thinning to an irritated line. “Obviously I am tired. I didn’t get much sleep last night… or the night before.”  
“Is it because of the… Killing Game?”

Nana shook her head, setting Chouko into her lap. “Even if this was an actual vacation, I wouldn’t. Even if I was at home in my own bed, I wouldn’t.”  
“You just… don’t sleep?”  
She gave a sudden bark of laughter, turning to me. She pointed at the dark circles under her eyes; suddenly, they made perfect sense.  
“You’re an insomniac?”  
“Mhm,” she nodded, turning away from me again. “Most of the time, I end up pacing the back half of the building.”  
“Doesn’t it scare you, doing something like that?”  
Nana hummed, lifting Chouko to her ear.

“Chouko says the only ones on the back floor have no reason to try and kill me. Himura would only attack someone in self-defence, and Ueda’s too snobby to get her own hands dirty. No, I’m not scared walking around there, but the other half? No, no, that’s a bad place for walking.”  
I frowned for a moment, but thought better than to ask. Instead, I had a different question.  
“Well, what do you do at home when you can’t sleep?”

“Different things, different things… The easiest method is sleeping pills. But that’s only when I _need_ to sleep. Most of the time I work on my current projects, or do stuff like this.”

I looked over, spotting the variety of tiny clothes strewn about the coffee table. “What are you doing?”  
Nana paused. “… I was inspired, but… there’s not a lot of materials to work with to make a new doll. So I just figured, I’d give Chouko a new look.”  
“That sounds interesting. Do you mind if I watch?”  
Nana looked at me, a confused look on her face. “… I guess it’s okay, but… it’s fine if you get bored and want to leave.”

I sat with Nana while she put several different outfits on Chouko. I thought they were all very cute, but nothing seemed to be up to Nana’s standards. In the end, Chouko remained in her original black-and-white dress.  
Nana slumped back in her chair, pouting.  
“Is it.. always this difficult to dress dolls?” I asked. Nana looked over at me, her pout stretching into a grimace instead.  
“Of course it’s not. If I can’t find something, I’d just make something new. But Chouko’s always been a drama queen about clothing.”  
“How many dolls do you have?”  
Nana tilted her head back. “I only have six that are truly mine. Most of the dolls I make, I end up selling them. Online, or to galleries and exhibitions, that sort of thing.”  
“Are they all like Chouko, or are they different kinds?”  
“They’re all like Chouko; all BJDs.”  
I thought it over. BJD stood for…

“Ball-jointed dolls, right?”  
Nana nodded with a smile. “That’s right. They’re really fun to work with, probably my favourite. They sell really well too – the market can get really competitive, but I have a lot of advantage.”  
“Because you’re an Ultimate?”  
“Well, that too. Mainly it’s because every one of my dolls is a completely unique, one-of-a-kind item. Even the ones I don’t like that much can go for thousands.”  
I couldn’t help my surprise. “Thousands?”  
Nana nodded. “Let me think… The last one I did, I sold her to a collector’s gallery… They bought her for about ninety.”  
“Ninety thousand?” My eyes were like saucers when she nodded again.  
“Honestly, she was only worth seventy. But they insisted.” She winked at me.  
“I… I see. Well, what about Chouko?”  
“Huh?”  
“How much would you say she’s worth?”

Nana looked down at Chouko, seated in her lap like a child.  
“… Nothing.”  
“Nothing at all?”  
“Nothing at all.” She agreed, looking up at me.  
I felt like I’d hit an uncomfortable nerve with her. Her entire stance had shifted; her shoulders were tenser, and she had a slight frown.  
My stomach, conveniently, let out a soft grumbling. Nana’s tension eased somewhat as I stood up.  
“I better go get something for breakfast. Have you eaten, Nana?”  
“No,” she shook her head, “I don’t like breakfast.”  
“Why not?”  
“The breakfast foods make my stomach feel bad. But you should eat; it’s not healthy to skip breakfast if you can keep it down.”

\--

I made my way out to the restaurant. No one was inside, so I made my way into the kitchen to look for something to eat.  
“Oh!”

Kaoru was there, frying something on the stove. She turned around when she heard me, but gave me a sweet smile afterwards.  
“Hey, Hazuki. What’s going on?”  
“Nothing, nothing. Just looking for something to eat.”  
“Well, if you don’t mind like, waiting, I’m almost done with this omelette. It’s a little bigger than I expected, so we can split it.”  
“That sounds lovely.”

Kaoru’s cooking was delicious… and extremely filling. Even just having half of it, I felt like I’d eaten an entire three-course meal. When I told her so, she giggled into her hand.  
“Thank you, Hazuki. But it’s really nothing special.”  
“I think it is,” I said with a smile. “I sure can’t make anything like this.”  
“You don’t ever cook at home?” she tilted her head.  
I shook mine in response; “I’m just… terrible, at it. Nothing ever comes out edible, I don’t know why.”  
Kaoru laughed again. “Well, if you ever want pointers, I’m told I’m a great teacher. But, they might have just been like, trying to flirt with me.”  
“You sound like you get that a lot…”  
She sighed, her smile fading into resigned annoyance. “If they’re not doing that, they’re trying to make fun of me. It’s honestly nice to just to like… talk normally to someone, for once.”

She gave me a strange look, suddenly. “This… _is_ normal talk, right? You’re not trying to make fun of me or anything?”  
I shook my head. “No, I don’t want to make fun of you.”  
Kaoru smiled. “That’s good. It’s nice to actually get to talk. There’s only like, one other person that really talks to me here…”  
I thought over it; who did I see Kaoru with a lot…?  
“It’s… Ryuu, right? The Ultimate DJ?”  
“That’s right,” she nodded, running her hand through her ponytail. “We started talking around the end of the first day here, and we just… hit it off, like really well.”  
I smiled at her; there was a certain… something, to her smile, when she talked about Ryuu.  
Kaoru noticed, and gave me a sly wink. “Don’t smirk at me, honey. I’ve seen you around with Nagasaki.”  
I blushed slightly. “It’s nothing like that…”  
“Uh huh, and my shirt has all its buttons.”  
“Is that why it’s open like that?”

Kaoru sat up, showing me the lining of her shirt. Sure enough, where the top four buttons should have been, there was nothing but the remnants of thread. Like someone had manually removed them.  
“I tried asking around, seeing if any of the other girls had like, a sewing kit or something. Apparently Nana does, but she actually hissed at me and ran away when I tried to ask about it. Can you believe that?”  
Honestly, I could. Nana had… an interesting reaction to Kaoru. I chose not to mention her ‘nasty’ comment from earlier – Kaoru didn’t need to hear that.  
“Well, maybe she’s just skittish because of like, this awful situation we’re in.” Kaoru sighed, shrugging. “Who knows?”  
“I don’t know,” I said slowly, looking down at my emptied plate. “I feel like Nana’s very… picky, about who she spends time with.”  
“Well, she can always hang out with you if she won’t make any friends.” Kaoru shrugged. “You seem like the kind of girl who likes stray cats.”  
I blushed again, looking down.

I do like stray cats. Kaoru’s smug smile said it all; she knew she had judged me correctly.

\--

I spent the remainder of the day with Kaoru, until people started filtering in to start on dinner. Today, no one was particularly interested in cooking an entire meal for everyone; it was more like… working around each other, borrowing leftovers for their own recipes. Ryuu sat with Kaoru and I while he ate his mutant dish, apparently made out of whatever he could pinch from everyone else.

Judging by the unique expressions he made, it was a horrible mistake.

“What did you even _take_?” Kaoru leaned away from the Frankenstein meal.  
“Well…” Ryuu started, poking a part of it, “Fujinami was making this… soy sauce, teriyaki thing so I got some of that. Miyamoto was doing something with steamed veggies, so I got some of that too. Got a lot of rice left over from them both, plus Nakano and her little sushi things…”  
“Did you put the sauce all over it?” I asked.  
“Yeah, it’s my favourite kind.” Ryuu smiled.  
“What… Is that some kind of chili sauce?”

Ryuu kept on smiling. I gagged at the thought of all of that… drowned in chili sauce. The mashup of flavours would be so intense…!  
I couldn’t sit at the table while he ate that… thing. I politely excused myself, and left for the hotel.

In the lobby… I ran into someone. Not literally, this time, but Setsuko was there.  
“Oh, good evening Setsuko.”  
“Good evening to you too, Hazuki.” She replied. “What are you doing?”  
“Just… killing time before bed, I guess. What are you doing?”  
Setsuko looked down at the magazine in her hands. “… Crossword.”  
“You like crosswords?” I walked over, taking a seat beside her.  
“Among other puzzles,” she replied, checking over the clues again. “I wanted to do the sudoku, but it appears Akiyama has already completed them all.”

I could easily picture it; Jirou poring over the magazines, zipping through the number puzzles without pause.  
“I won’t lie,” she broke me out of the thought, adjusting the magazine in her lap. “I’m not incredibly good at this sort of thing.”  
“Really?”  
She looked at me out of the corner of her eyes. “Does it surprise you?”  
“A little bit,” I smiled at her, “mostly because, well… you come across as really intelligent. I can’t imagine someone like you having difficulty with anything.”

The barest hint of a smile tugged at Setsuko’s lips, but it was gone in a flicker.  
“I don’t know if I agree. The majority of my intelligence is focused on threat assessment.”  
“Threat assessment?” I asked, my brow furrowing.  
Setsuko closed the magazine, placing it on the table in front of her. “Imagine; you are a client, a top-ranking government official with a lot of money. You have hired me to protect you from danger, within and without in your organization. Therefore, I must examine everyone around you and decide who would be the most dangerous to you.”  
I blinked. “You can… _do_ that?”  
She nodded. “I have already assessed everyone in our group. However… for your own benefit, I don’t think you should ask me who is the most dangerous.”  
I agreed with her; I didn’t need a reason to suspect someone, even if I was curious. However, there was one thing I _could_ know without fear…

“Have you assessed me?”  
“You?” she raised her eyebrow. “You are an… interesting case.”  
“What’s that mean?”  
“Well, let’s place it on a numeric scale of one to ten, one being the lowest and ten being the highest. But the scale can refer to different kinds of threat.”  
“How many kinds of… ‘threat’ are there?”  
Setsuko sighed. “Several, but I think you’re asking about your physical threat.”  
I gave her a sheepish nod. She raised her hand to her mouth, hiding a smile.

“I’m sorry, Hazuki, but… two.”  
“… Two?”  
“You’re a two on the scale. You lack both the motivation to violence, and the physical strength to carry it out.”  
I slumped in my chair, pretending I was devastated. “Oh, man… only a two…?”  
Setsuko suddenly coughed into her hand – or was that a laugh?  
“Why do you do that?”  
“I’m sorry?” she looked down at me.

“You cover your mouth when you laugh or smile… Why do you do that?”

Setsuko’s smile faded as she lowered her hand, her stoic expression back in place. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Hazuki.”  
Ah. She must be sensitive about that topic…  
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you…”  
“That’s fine. Just don’t ask me again.” She stood, stretching slightly. “It’s getting late. You should get to bed soon.”  
I looked at the clock. She was right; it was almost ten o’clock already…  
“All right. I’ll see you in the morning, Setsuko.”  
She nodded to me, heading up the stairs. I stayed downstairs for a few minutes longer, enjoying the brief silence.

Things had been going well, despite the situation. Aside from the small scuffle on the first day, and the confrontation between Ai and Michiko yesterday, no one had been seriously hurt.  
I felt proud of everyone; we weren’t going to let Monokitty get to us. All of us had our own strengths, and we would use it against our captors.  
I decided to head up to my room, with that thought firmly in my mind…

Only… someone was waiting for me.

Suzume was standing by my door, dressed in her pyjamas with her pillow in her arms. She looked at me with big, sad-puppy eyes.  
I sighed, smiling gently at her. “Scared again?”  
“I’m sorry. I can go to Setsuko if it’s a bother…”  
“No, it’s fine. I’m happy you trust me like this.”  
Suzume smiled, stepping out of my way so I could unlock the door.

\--

When I left the bathroom, having changed into my own pyjamas, Suzume was still sitting up this time. She looked over at me, a cheerful look on her face.

“This is kind of fun, isn’t it? It’s like a slumber party!” she giggled. I did, too.  
“It is, isn’t it?”  
I sat down on my side of the bed, pulling my legs up. Suddenly, I felt something… odd.

Suzume was touching my hair.

“It’s a shame,” she said, off in her thoughts. “I was going to offer to braid your hair, but it’s so short…”  
“I-I’m sorry?”  
“No, it’s fine,” she smiled at me, letting my hair go. “Shorter hair suits you, anyway. I can’t picture you with anything like Shizuka or Kaoru.”

She had a point; both Shizuka and Kaoru had long, flowing ponytails that reached their backs despite being tied high on their heads.  
“Do you think they’d let you braid their hair?”  
Suzume scoffed. An unusual, mean expression crossed her face in an instant – like the smirk from before, I wasn’t sure it was real or a trick of the light.  
“Seriously, Hazuki? Would they let me? Shizuka would cut my hands off if I even thought about touching her hair; she’s such a rotten, bitchy snob, because what? She can sing? Big whoop. And as for that… _dancer_ ,” there was so much venom in her words; it was a little frightening, “I’m sure she’d call me a little kid and laugh at me. She’s not that much older than me, but she thinks she’s sooo mature. Newsflash, she’s only ‘mature’ because she’s got big boobs and thick thighs.”  
“Suzume?”

Suzume blinked, then let out an innocent laugh and rubbed her head.

“Gosh, I don’t know what came over me! That was awful mean just now… I shouldn’t say things like that about people behind their backs.”  
She did _look_ apologetic, but… I wasn’t so sure now…  
“I think… it’s just the stress, right? Don’t you sometimes say things you don’t mean when you’re scared?”  
“I… I guess you’re right…”  
“See? You understand me.” Suzume gave me a bright smile; back to her old self, I suppose… But I felt like I had to talk to Setsuko, tomorrow.

Suzume took my stunned silence as a cue to lie down, getting comfortable. “Well, good night!”  
“Good night, Suzume…”

\--

“Good morning, kittens! It is now seven a.m.! Time to rise and shine for another mew-tiful day on our lovely resort!”

I didn’t want to open my eyes. I still felt so exhausted, and I was sick of not having dreams while I was sleeping.  
“Hey… hey, kitten, wake up.”

What.

My eyes snapped open. I barely stopped myself from screaming as I came face-to-face with Monokitty.  
The little robot was standing beside my bed, its paws set up on the side like a little kid. Its white ear flicked constantly, as if it was… agitated.  
“Good girl, good girl. So, uh, I’ll keep this brief, seeing as we’ve got _company_ ,” it gestured behind me, where Suzume was still sound asleep.  
“Listen, listen… What the hell is going on around here?”  
“What are you talking about?”  
“Well, this is day three. And, uh, there’s a significant absence of that bloody murder I’ve been begging for. So, what I want to know is… **_why are you stopping them?_** ”

My blood turned to ice at the threatening tone. Monokitty stared into my eyes, an unnatural fury in its glowing red one.  
I didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t make it angrier. The truth was, I cared about all of them, and the last thing I wanted was for them to killing each other for some sick game. But that wouldn’t fly with Monokitty; nothing that came to mind would.  
Eventually, when it became clear I was staying quiet, Monokitty let out a heavy sigh.

“Fine, whatever. Keep your secrets, kitten. I’ll get what I want out of them, **_sooner or later…_** ”

Monokitty disappeared under the bed. I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding, and dropped my face into my pillow.  
Next to me, Suzume finally sat up, rubbing her eye. “Mm, good morning, Hazuki… What’s wrong?”  
I dragged myself out of bed, forcing a smile to my face. “Nothing, just… still a little tired, that’s all.”  
Suzume stared at me for a moment. The look on her face was… unusually deadpan.

“You know, Hazuki… you really are a bad liar.”

My smile fell away at her response. “Really?”  
“Yep,” she nodded as she climbed out of bed, “you really should do something about that. I’m going to head back to my room… Thanks for letting me stay again.”  
“O-okay… And, you’re welcome.”

\--

With the morning event still firmly in my mind, I headed out to the restaurant for breakfast.

It was quiet this morning. From the hotel to the restaurant, I only saw two other people; Keiji and Jun, sitting at a table outside of the restaurant.  
“Good morning, guys,” I greeted them. They both smiled, but there was something… worried, in their eyes.  
“Is everything okay?”  
“Well… it’s… I, I mean…” Jun looked inside the restaurant window with no small amount of fear.  
“You might not want to go in there right now,” Keiji finished for him, before taking a sip of his coffee.  
“Why not?” I asked, looking in myself. I couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

At least at first.

Like the sudden snap to combat in an action movie, the kitchen door suddenly flew open as someone was bodily thrown out of it.  
I recognised the soft blue of his jacket; it was Jirou being thrown.

Yuuma stepped out of the kitchen a second later, taking slow, threatening steps towards him. The stormy expression on his face was terrible.  
“That’s what I was afraid of,” Keiji said, standing up behind me.

I couldn’t wait out here. I ran forward, pushing the door open.  
“Yuuma, what are you doing!?”  
Yuuma didn’t take his eyes off Jirou, who was scrambling backwards on the floor, trying to stand.

“Teaching this scrawny shit some manners. What does it look like?”

Keiji walked in behind me, crouching down to help Jirou up. Yuuma sighed, folding his arms.  
“Of course. I’m the bad guy, once again. What, you think because his nose is up Ueda’s asshole, he’s sunshine and bunnies too?”  
“Y-you threw me through the f- through the door! You’re a brute, you’re a, a-an animal!” Jirou shouted at him.  
“You deserved it,” Yuuma snarled, “or do you think I’m fucking deaf and dumb that I didn’t know what you said?”  
“I-I didn’t-!”

“Just get out of here. If you want food, you can wait ‘til I’m done.” Yuuma stalked back into the kitchen.  
Keiji checked Jirou over. “You’re fine. No severe injuries, but you might be a little bruised.”  
“Th-thank you.”  
Keiji nodded to him, then turned back to me. “I’m heading back outside. I’m sure Jun’s worrying himself to tears after that little show.”

After Keiji closed the door, I looked over to Jirou. He was still straightening his appearance, looking angry and embarrassed.  
“Well… since we can’t exactly get into the kitchen right now, why don’t we take a walk?”  
Jirou looked up at me with wide eyes. “I’m… sorry?”  
“A walk? Just, along the beach?”  
“I, uh, oh…” he pushed his glasses up his nose – it was a miracle they hadn’t been damaged.

“Well, sure. That sounds like a nice way to pass the time.”

\--

Jirou and I walked along the beach, looking out at the sea. I kept an eye out for anything that might be a sign of rescue – ships, aeroplanes, anything – but there was nothing.  
“To be honest,” Jirou said, dusting his glasses off with his jacket, “I was hoping my graduation celebration would be a lot different to this.”  
“Graduation? You mean you only graduated this year?”  
Jirou nodded. “I’ve always been told I look younger than I am. There’s a convenience store at my train station near home; the old couple there still think I’m only thirteen.”  
“Wow,” I said, trying not to laugh. Jirou certainly did have the kind of face that little old ladies would pinch the cheeks of.  
“Well, hopefully I’ve got one last growth spurt in me before I’m stuck like this for the rest of my life.”  
I nodded, but the smile on my face didn’t seem to convince him.  
“Well, nonetheless. I have my credentials, so my appearance shouldn’t be an issue.”

I nodded again. We spent a few more minutes in relative silence, before I decided to ask what had been bothering me the entire walk.

“Jirou… If you don’t mind me asking, what was that fight in the restaurant about?”  
Jirou stopped suddenly, giving me the same sheepish, guilty look that he had two nights ago. If I remembered right, that had been when we talked about Yuuma’s attitude…

“It’s… well, you see…” he wrung his hands, avoiding my eyes. Finally, he let out a heavy sigh.  
“Well, there’s no point in lying to you. You already suspect me because of what Watanabe said.”  
He put his hands on his hips, shaking his head.  
“I wasn’t intentionally trying to aggravate him. I just expressed my surprise that he’d left his room.”  
“That doesn’t sound like something that would make him angry. Are you sure that was all?”  
“Well… he didn’t appreciate my choice of words. I didn’t appreciate him cursing at me in return. Things escalated quickly.”  
“What did you say that made him actually _throw_ you out of the kitchen?”

Jirou’s face turned red.  
“I-I, well… I’m not proud of it. He brought me down to his level, and I… I called him a-a brainless fucking loser. And I said that we were better off that someone as nasty and pathetic as him already removed himself from our group, because he was obviously going to be the first one to fall for this stupid Killing Game.”

My eyes went wide as he finished that statement. “You really think he’s capable of… of murder?”  
Jirou’s shame vanished.  
“Of course he’s capable of it. You’ve probably spent the most time with him out of anyone, it surprises me that you haven’t figured it out yourself.”  
“I don’t think he’s that bad.”  
“You don’t think that about anyone, Miss Satou,” Jirou shook his head again. “You want to believe the best in everyone, even someone as cold-hearted as Watanabe. Reality doesn’t work like that; the math doesn’t lie.”  
“What does math have to do with it?” I didn’t mean it to sound so harsh, but Jirou frowned at me, definitely offended.

“You don’t realise it, but math has plenty to do with it. Especially when it’s why people like him treat people like me like trash.”  
“People like you?”  
“Well, look at me,” he gestured, his anger fading to tired resignation. “I’m small, and physically weak. My talent revolves around a subject a lot of people despise, and that makes me a target for bullies like Watanabe. It has ever since I was a kid.”

Things suddenly clicked. Jirou wasn’t lashing out for no reason… He was running on his own perceptions of forceful people. That was probably also why he so quickly latched onto Michiko; she was forceful, yes, but she was intelligent and nonviolent, just like he was.  
“You don’t know how lucky you are, Miss Satou.” Jirou broke the silence. He seemed so… defeated.  
“What do you mean?”  
“You just… have something about you. People like you, they care about what you have to say. I’m sure if anyone else had come into the restaurant today, Watanabe would have beat me senseless. But he listens to you; everyone listens to you.”  
I opened my mouth, but I didn’t know what to say.

“I’m sorry, I’ve killed the mood, haven’t I?” he said, giving an awkward laugh.  
“No, it’s okay…”  
“You don’t have to lie to make me feel better. I… I think I’ll spend some time by myself today. You should go get some breakfast. Take care, Miss Satou.”  
Before I said anything, Jirou hurried off towards the hotel.

\--

I decided to take Jirou’s suggestion and headed back to the restaurant. Keiji and Jun let me know that Yuuma had already left, so I was free to head in and make myself some food.

Of course, it was long past time for breakfast. I’d spent so long walking, it was already 12.

But as I approached the kitchen door, I heard a voice coming from the other side. It sounded familiar…  
Carefully, I opened the door slightly, peering in from the corner.

Suzume and Setsuko were inside. Suzume was busy mixing ingredients in a bowl, while Setsuko sat at the counter, listening to her sister’s ranting.

“… then he has the nerve to talk to me like that! Who does he think he is, huh!? Some big, tough guy, picking on people half his size. I bet if you fought him, he’d be on the floor in less than a second. But he doesn’t have the balls to actually fight someone who knows how to, right?”  
Setsuko gave a half-hearted nod.  
“I knew it. Yuuma’s all talk. Oh, and did I tell you about Hazuki the other day?”  
“Suzume,” Setsuko warned, but Suzume ignored her.  
“Can you believe she _actually thinks_ Daisuke likes her? They’ve known each other like, what, two days? She’s as bad as that slut Kaoru. I swear, if I didn’t turn up last night, she’d have invited him into her room for _you-know-what_. And she tries to act like she’s so innocent and kind.”  
My cheeks burned. So Setsuko was right; Suzume was very two-faced.

I was right in my intuition as well. Suzume really didn’t care about her sister’s opinion. No matter how many times Setsuko tried to stop her, Suzume barrelled on with her nasty rants. I couldn’t take it anymore; not caring if they noticed, I let go of the door and hurried out of the restaurant.

I couldn’t believe what I’d heard. I didn’t know how to react, either – I’d never had to deal with this kind of thing before.  
I ended up in the dead garden beside the hotel, sitting on the very chair I’d first found Yuuma in. I stared ahead of me, trying to reason with my own thoughts.

I didn’t know how long I’d been there until it happened, but I heard quiet footsteps approaching me. I looked up; it was Setsuko.  
“Hazuki.”  
“Oh, uh, hello Setsuko,” I forced a smile, but her stoic expression didn’t move. My smile dropped.  
“You knew I was there, didn’t you?”

Setsuko looked over her shoulder for a moment, then walked over and sat beside me.  
“I’m sorry. When she gets like that, even I can’t stop her.”  
I looked down at my shoes. “She really thinks that about all of us?”  
Setsuko sighed. “I’m… I’m sorry. This, well, this has been a habit of hers for a very long time. She’s… Suzume is obsessed with her reputation.”  
I looked up at Setsuko. She looked so… tired. Maybe she didn’t like having to protect Suzume as much as I thought…

“So she pretends to be nice to everyone, and then talks like… that, about them behind their backs?”  
Setsuko nodded.  
“That’s… I’m sorry, but that’s just awful.”  
“I’m aware.”  
“Does she know that?”  
Setsuko turned to me. Her stoic expression chilled me like it had only done once before, when we first met.  
“What do you want me to say to her, Hazuki? I can’t control her. I’ve tried to tell her, so many times, that she shouldn’t treat the people who are kind to her like this. And you saw it yourself, all she does is ignore me, and carries on like I said nothing at all.”

She sighed, to the point that she actually _slouched_ in her seat. Setsuko had never slouched.

“Setsuko…”  
“I’m… so tired, Hazuki.” She rubbed her forehead. “I should go get some rest. I was up late last night.”  
“You do look paler than usual… I think I agree.”  
“Can you do me one more favour, Hazuki?” she looked at me, her eyes pleading. It reminded me of Suzume, except Setsuko’s was so much more genuine.  
“What is it?”  
“Can you still… look after her, if she comes to your room at night?”  
“Wait, you didn’t tell her – “  
“Do you want to deal with that fallout? She didn’t even notice you swinging the door. She’s never faced a consequence for this in her life; I don’t think our current situation is the best place for that to happen.”

I wasn’t happy about it. I wanted to tell Suzume exactly what I thought of her attitude. But even if I didn’t have a good opinion of Suzume any more, I was definitely close to Setsuko.  
And she didn’t need any more stress. Not here, not now.

So I told her.  
“Okay. But it’s not for her sake, you know.”  
Setsuko barely smiled. “I know. Thank you so much.”

\--

I didn’t know what to do with the rest of the day. I did, eventually, _finally_ get something to eat. I had lost all my appetite for conversation, however. Between Monokitty’s surprise visit, the fight at the restaurant, Jirou’s depressing history, and Suzume’s horrible hidden side, I felt… drained.

I ended up sitting on the top floor of the hotel, at the armchairs I’d spent time with Fuyuki and Yosuke in. I stared into space, still trying to make sense of everything that had happened. I was drained.

I didn’t even notice someone hovering nearby.

“Ah…”  
The sudden noise startled me; I jumped in my seat, my head whipping around until I saw the culprit.

“Oh… Hikaru. You scared me!”  
Hikaru was tensed up himself; I think my response scared _him_.  
“Ah, um… I- well, I… thought you looked, you looked upset… Are you all right?”  
I sighed. “No… no, not really. It’s been… a long day.”  
Hikaru shifted in place, before he slowly walked over and sat in the chair across from me.  
“Do, um, d-do you want to talk about it?”  
“Well… sorry, but I’d rather not think about it anymore. I’d like to talk about something else, if that’s all right.”

Hikaru avoided making eye contact, but he did nod his agreement.  
“I haven’t seen you around very much,” I said gently, trying not to scare him off. “Where have you been?”  
“I-I’ve just… been around. I can, can usually stay out of e-everyone’s, uh, attention, but um… I have been hanging out with, with uh, Ryuu and-and Jirou, sometimes.”  
I’d known about Ryuu, but Jirou? That was a surprise. I told Hikaru so.

“He’s, he’s nice. A little, um, stubborn, but I think he’s… a little like me.”  
He gave an awkward, tiny smile.  
“I mean, I’m… I’m nervous around everyone, b-but Jirou… he’s afraid of, of the stronger people.”  
“Stronger?”  
“Well,” Hikaru looked to the stairs for a moment, as if he was worried about being heard.  
“Watanabe’s the, the worst, he thinks. He, he’s also nervous around Ryuu, an-and then Harakawa. A couple of the girls, too – Himura and M-Matthews, I think.”  
I nodded. “He said something similar to me.”  
Hikaru pulled at his sleeves. “I, I think that’s why, why he feels safe around me. He, he knows I’m the s-same way, just… with e-everyone.”  
“Even me?” I’d meant it as a joke, but Hikaru looked at me with a surprisingly soft expression.

“Hikaru, it’s just a joke.”  
“Y-you don’t… no, no I-I don’t… I-I-I should go.”

As quick as a flash, Hikaru had fled. I guessed I really struck a nerve… I hadn’t meant to offend him. But maybe I had to be gentler with someone so anxious.

\--

I was exhausted by the time I left the third floor. I slowly walked down the stairs, barely paying attention to what was at the base…

Of course, that was always a recipe for disaster.

I bumped into someone walking past, breaking me out of my haze.  
“Oh, I’m so sorry!”

Nana turned and looked at me strangely.  
“You look tired.” She said, so matter-of-factly I couldn’t help but laugh a little.  
“I guess I am… Are you heading to bed too, Nana?”  
She gave me a catlike smile; we both knew she had slim chances of actually sleeping.

“I’m heading somewhere, yes. What about you?”  
“Just to bed, same as you.”

Nana looked down the hallway, tilting her head away from me. “Well, don’t look now, but I think someone’s looking to cuddle up to you again.”  
Sure enough, when I followed her gaze, Suzume was walking up the hallway toward us. My heart sank a little, knowing I’d have to pretend nothing was wrong.

Suzume smiled brightly at the two of us, but her side glance at Nana was a bad sign. “Good evening Hazuki, and Nana too!”  
“Good evening,” Nana replied at the same time as me.  
“Ooh, you two said it the same time! Hurry, Hazuki, you can jinx!” Suzume laughed.

Nana raised Chouko to her ear. I braced myself.  
“Chouko wishes you a good night sleep, Hazuki.”  
“Oh. Th-thank you, Chouko. And you too, Nana.”

She smiled at me; that same, catlike smile from before. Like she knew more than she would ever let on.

“Well, I’d better go. You two have fun with your little slumber party.”  
“Good night, then.” Suzume said, turning back to me.  
“Good night, Nana.” I said, and Nana left not a second later.

\--

Suzume and I went into my room. It was starting to feel very routine, getting ready for bed knowing Suzume was sitting up to talk to me a little before bed.  
When I came out of the bathroom, she was frowning at the foot of the bed.

“Suzume? Are you okay?”  
She looked up at me, her frown not fading.

“I was just thinking about Nana and her little… doll thing.”  
I sat down on my side of the bed, looking over at her. I didn’t say anything.

Apparently that was permission.

“Isn’t it just… childish? She pretends it’s all her doll talking so she can get away with being creepy and rude! No wonder nobody likes her here.”  
“I like her,” I said, but Suzume laughed.  
“Hazuki, you ‘like’ everyone. You’d forgive someone if they punched you right in the stomach!”  
I wanted to tell her she was wrong… but it felt true. I was a doormat, wasn’t I?

“Maybe someone should steal it while she’s not looking,” Suzume wondered, climbing under the blanket. “I bet she’d go completely insane…”  
I opened my mouth, but was cut off by the bells.

“Good evening, honoured guests! It is now eleven p.m.! In one hour, all outer doors will be locked. Please return to your rooms, and sleep well!”

It was useless. If she didn’t listen to Setsuko, she sure wasn’t going to listen to me. She was already nestled in, eyes closed.

I put it out of my mind. I needed sleep.


	4. Chapter 1.3 - Daily Life: Common Interests

\--

“Good morning, kittens! It is now seven a.m.! Time to rise and shine for another mew-tiful day on our lovely resort!”

I woke up, once again, to the bell alarm and that awful pun. As I sat up, groaning, Suzume rolled over and looked at me with bleary eyes.  
“Why do we always have to get up now…?” she asked, her voice croaking from dryness.  
“… I don’t know. Maybe-”

“Now, before you all go running around having _FUN_ ,”

We both jumped as Monokitty stayed on the TV screen. I had thought it was the same recording from yesterday, but apparently it was a live feed instead.  
“I have an important announcement to make to you all. So if you could please make your way to the dancehall, the meeting will commence at eight a.m. sharp! Don’t be late, or you’ll be _SORRY!_ ”

The TV clicked off. Suzume looked up at me.  
“Well, if we have to be there right away, I better go back to my room.”  
“Do you need me to walk you over this time?” I asked, but Suzume shook her head.  
“I’ll be okay. Thanks for letting me stay over again.”  
“It’s no trouble at all.”

After Suzume left, I set about getting ready for the day. Just like yesterday, by the time I was finally finished, it was 7:30.  
I headed out of my room slower this time – I didn’t want to make a habit of knocking people over. Setsuko, Ai and Kaoru walked up the hallway as I closed my door.

“Good morning, everyone.”  
“Morning, Hazuki,” Ai said, rubbing one eye. “You ready for this ‘announcement’?”  
“I don’t think I’ll ever be ready for that cat…” Kaoru said, her arms wrapped around herself. “It’s just so like… creepy.”  
Setsuko was quiet. “I’ll catch up to you all; I’m going to get Suzume.”  
We nodded to her, branching off down the stairs as she continued on her way.

“I wish I’d had a big sister like Setsuko growing up,” Kaoru said while we walked. “It would have made life so much easier.”  
“Maybe it would, but I don’t think I could deal with it.” Ai said with a shrug.  
“Why not?” I asked. Ai hummed as she thought it over.

“Well… it’s just how much she babies Suzume, I guess. I’ve always been really independent, myself, so thinking about having someone constantly coddling me… eh, I don’t like it.”  
I thought about Suzume’s strange behaviour, suddenly – but Setsuko had already left, and I couldn’t ask her in front of Suzume. I’d have to wait until later…

We talked casually on our way to the main building. Setsuko and Suzume were the last ones to arrive, just after us. Everyone else was already there – even Yuuma, sitting off to the side on his own.  
As soon as the clock turned to eight, the dancehall doors slammed shut behind us. Music blared over the speakers – Monokitty’s overly cheerful jingle.  
The cat appeared on the stage, throwing confetti into the air.

“Welcome, honoured guests! Are you all enjoying your vacation?”

None of us dignified it with a response. The cheerful music suddenly stopped, and Monokitty stared down at us with a vicious glint in its eyes.

“All right, fine. If you don’t want to play along, I don’t have to do _SHIT_ for you.”  
“What do you want?” Yosuke asked, sounding just plain tired.  
“Hmph! Well, that’s a stupid question! I told you what I wanted on day one! _I WANT YOU TO KILL EACH OTHER! **BUT YOU’RE NOT DOING IT**!”_

Monokitty fumed at us, an angry red tint over its face.  
“So I thought about it, I did. What was missing? Why were you kittens just playing cute instead of ripping each other to bloody shreds? And then I realised! You don’t think your lives are worth killing for!”

It let out a vicious laugh, tilting its head back.

“Nya-ha-ha-ha-ha! It made me laugh and sad at the same time! But it sure answered my question, nyu-hu, so I’m glad I didn’t have to spend my nine lives wondering. So here we are today, for a big meeting!  
“Now, if you’ll all take out your guest e-handbooks… _NOW_.”

We all hunted through our individual bags, finding out e-handbooks. When I pressed my screen, I found both the ‘Notes’ and ‘Rules’ tabs blinking.  
“First, we’ll go here, to the Rules!” Monokitty pointed upwards, as a projector shone an image on the curtain behind it. It showed the same screen as our e-handbooks, but more for Monokitty’s presentation’s sake than our information.  
I pressed on the ‘Rules’ tab. The rules were still the same, but now there was a blinking light over rules 5 and 6.

  1. _IN ORDER TO GAIN PERMISSION TO LEAVE THE ISLAND, A GUEST MUST MURDER ANOTHER, AND BECOME ‘BLACKENED’._
  2. _MONOKITTY DOES NOT COUNT AS ‘ANOTHER’. ONLY GUESTS COUNT IN ORDER TO BECOME ‘BLACKENED’. VIOLENCE TOWARDS MONOKITTY WILL BE SEVERELY PUNISHED._



“See now, kittens? It’s so easy to remember! You can gain permission to go home and live your normal life, if you’ll just _DO A LITTLE MURDERING_. Now, since I know you have no more stupid questions, let’s move over to the Notes tab!”  
We all pressed our screens. There was a new note, called ‘Monokitty’s Motive Time’. But mine was empty.

“What gives? There’s nothing here.” Yuuma said from his spot.  
“Mine doesn’t say anything either… did you forget what you wanted to put in the notes?” Emi asked, looking up at Monokitty.  
“ _I DIDN’T FORGET ANYTHING! HOLD YOUR DAMN HAIRBALLS!”_

Emi flinched from the sudden shouting.  
“Ahem. The motive will be filled individually… once we finish our one-on-one interviews!” Monokitty flung its arms up.  
Suddenly, a structure appeared from the ceiling. It looked like a closed-off office, with a single door, and a large mirror on the wall facing us.  
“This is our soundproof interview room! I’ll take each of you into this room, we’ll have a little talk, and then you’ll know exactly what you’re getting out of this!”  
“Out of murder, you mean.” Setsuko said from the back of the room. Monokitty gave her a long, hard stare.  
“… **_You’ll be fun to break._** ” It growled. A fair few of us took a step back, terrified of its sudden ferocity. I was amazed by Setsuko’s bravery, looking into that face and not even reacting.

“Well, let’s get started! Who’s our first guest, hm… Ah, here we go!”

The door to the office opened up.  
“Daisuke Nagasaki, please step inside!”

Daisuke looked back at all of us, then turned and walked into the room. Monokitty hopped down from the stage, waddling its way around to follow him, slamming the door closed.  
We moved into one large group, watching the room for any signs of danger.  
“What do you think it’s going to tell him?” Jirou asked no one in particular.  
“Who knows,” Fuyuki shrugged, “Probably some empty threat.”  
“Do you think it’s really soundproofed?” Michiko asked. Ai nodded; “It has to be. That’s a two-way mirror.”  
“A what?” Jun asked, turning to her.

“A two-way mirror. They use them in police stations when they’re interviewing people; the side facing us looks like a mirror, but on the opposite side, Daisuke and Monokitty can look out and see us.”  
“How do you know they are used in police stations?” Shizuka asked, a smug smirk on her face. Ai glared at her.  
“Because my dad’s a cop.”  
Shizuka’s smirk fell away. “… I see.”  
“Please, let’s not start any arguments,” Keiji said, taking a seat at a nearby table. “This will be stressful enough without us turning on each other.”

The group exchanged a series of looks, then we all found seats still close together. We didn’t talk much; most of the time we just stared at the room. Waiting.  
Half an hour later, Daisuke finally emerged. He looked pale, but determined. Monokitty leaned its head out of the door behind him.  
“Dr. Keiji Haruno, you’re next!”  
Keiji headed into the room, nodding to Daisuke as they passed each other.

Daisuke took a seat at my table, resting his head in his hands.  
“Are you okay?” I asked.  
“I… I don’t know. I can’t talk about it.” He said, not looking up.  
“What does that mean?” Kaoru asked.  
“It means it’s part of the motive,” Daisuke sighed, “If I say anything about it… it’ll kill me.”

A hush fell over us. How cruel could that little robot get?  
We spent the next half hour trying to soothe Daisuke, until Keiji finally exited the room himself.  
“Kaoru Nakajima, it’s your turn! Nyu-nyu, I can’t wait to spend some private time with you…”  
Kaoru’s face was disgusted as she stood up, heading into the room.

Keiji took his previous spot. He wasn’t quite as shaken as Daisuke – but I imagined he’d had a lot of difficult talks in his career. He talked quietly with Jun, next to him.

I realised, when Kaoru exited the room, that we were going to be here a long time. Monokitty was taking half an hour with everyone – it took Shizuka into the room after Kaoru came out.  
“Jirou,” I called over, getting the mathematician’s attention.  
“Yes?”  
“Half an hour per person, for eighteen people.”  
Jirou narrowed his eyes as he thought it over, then gave me a depressed look with the answer:

“We’ll be here for nine hours.”  
“What?!” Ryuu blurted out. “That’s the whole goddamn day!”  
“I wanted to try and keep breakfast down today…” Nana sighed, slumped over on her table.  
“Well, we’re screwed,” Yuuma shrugged. “Might as well get comfortable.”

Nine whole hours, just… waiting for our turn to talk to Monokitty. It was torture. Maybe it was another, hidden part of the motive – stress our bodies and minds out further until one of us finally snapped.  
I watched closely, every time someone else went into the room. Shizuka looked exactly the same when she left, replaced by Fuyuki. Fuyuki had emerged with an obvious shiver, as Michiko was called on. Michiko had walked in like a queen, but she looked terrified when she walked out. Hikaru had gone in after her – but he always looked scared, so it was hard to see if he had been affected.  
Next had been Setsuko. Monokitty had called her name differently to everyone else; there had been no playful professionalism, only cold malice that she barely acknowledged on her way in. Suzume had moved closer to Daisuke when the door closed.  
I watched the clock carefully. A half hour passed… and then another half hour. Monokitty had a lot to talk with Setsuko about, apparently…  
The door slammed open suddenly, at the top of the hour. Monokitty fumed as Setsuko walked out, the same as she had gone in.  
“Suzume Himura, get your _CRYBABY ASS IN HERE!”_  
Suzume tried, very hard, not to be visibly afraid as she made her way into the room. Setsuko took her seat at our table, folding her hands on the top of it.  
“You look… calm,” Daisuke said.  
“I am calm.” Setsuko replied. “I’m not giving it any power over me.”  
“You can just… do that?” Kaoru asked. She’d been shaking ever since she walked out; I noticed Ryuu had moved closer as soon as she sat down.  
“It’s a skill I’ve learned,” Setsuko explained, lowering her eyes, “It allows me to dedicate my entire being to my work. If I’m going to protect someone, I can’t be afraid for myself.”  
That was… dedicated. And more than a little worrying in our current situation. I wanted to say so, but at the same time, I didn’t want to insult her.  
“What do you think he’s saying to Suzume?” Daisuke asked her. Setsuko’s brow twitched, for only a moment.  
“Something cruel,” she said slowly, rage tinting her voice, “just to make her cry. It will bully her, like it tried to do to all of us.”  
“You’re not supposed to say – “  
“I didn’t say what it gave me to kill for.”

When Suzume came out, she was in tears again. She ran to Setsuko, nearly knocking over Yosuke on his way into the room.  
“It’s okay now, Suzume,” Setsuko said, hugging her sister tightly. “It can’t hurt you, remember? Not as long as I’m around.”  
“Setsukooooo!” Suzume cried into her.  
Across the room, I saw Yuuma roll his eyes. But when he saw me looking at him, he suddenly looked… different. Guilty, almost. He looked away from me, rubbing the back of his head.

The time dragged on. Yosuke came outside, replaced by Ai. After her, Nana, then Ryuu, Emi, Jun… and finally, it called me.  
“Hazuki Satou! Come on in!”

The room was colder than the dancehall. All that was inside was a circular table, and a chair on either side. Monokitty sat on one side of the table, gesturing for me to take mine.  
Ai had been right about the mirror – I looked out and saw my friends, all consoling one another after the meeting.  
“Bunch of wet-nosed babies, am I right?” Monokitty said, laughing to itself. I turned back to it, steeling myself. I thought about Setsuko’s words again.  
I wouldn’t give this little monster any power over me.

Monokitty sighed, lowering its papers. “Look, I’m gonna level with ya. It’s really hard to threaten you.”  
… What?  
“Yeah, see… I don’t have the same dirt on you that I got for everyone else. Kind of, uh, lost it when I had to wipe your memory a bit more than the rest.”  
“Why did you have to-“  
“No questions!” Monokitty’s paws flew up. “Just listen, kitten, just listen… So maybe I can’t threaten you, but I can _ABSOLUTELY_ make you a deal.”  
“A deal?” I parroted, “What kind of deal?”  
“See, that’s what I like about you, cutie,” the robot winked at me. I felt slimy afterwards. “You’re a clever girl. You and I, we’re like peas in a pod, right? We know what we want. If only we didn’t want the complete opposite things. You want everyone to survive, I want everyone to **_die_**.”  
A shiver crept down my spine.  
“But, that’s why I’m offering a deal.” Monokitty tapped its papers. “You know the drill so far, right? Kill another guest, become the blackened, escape this hellhole?”  
I nodded. I’d never do it, but Monokitty didn’t need me to tell it that.  
“Well, for you, I’m offering a little bit extra. You do the smart thing, _GET YOUR MURDER ON_ … I can restore your memory. One hundred percent perfect, as if we-I- ** _I never messed with it_**.”  
“… How am I supposed to believe that?” I asked quietly. “What proof do you have?”  
“Well… like I said, all my notes on you are gone. But that’s just paper notes! I have all the digital information stored in my main memory banks!” Monokitty paused.  
“But, uh, you’re just trying to get a little sneak out of me, aren’t you, kitten? Trick your dear, kind host into giving you a free prize?”

I froze. I didn’t know how it was going to react. My skin felt clammy as I broke into a terrified, cold sweat.

“NYA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!”  
Monokitty exploded into mad laughter. I didn’t know how long for, but it found the situation hysterical.  
“Wow, you really are a piece! I think you’re turning out to be my favourite kitten! _WOW!_ ”

It sighed, pretending to breathe slowly to calm itself down.  
“If only I could give you some collateral, but sadly, I know what you’re trying to do, so no prizes for you. Just keep it in mind from now on, nya?”  
I couldn’t do anything but nod.  
“All right! Great! Now let’s move on, we’re almost done.”

I left the room, feeling… empty. Yuuma was called in after me. I didn’t really hear anyone talking to me as I sat down again.  
I may not have registered words, but I did notice Daisuke reach out and take my hand in his.  
I looked up at him – the colour had returned to his face, but the worry was still there.  
“Are you okay?” he mouthed to me. I nodded, vaguely.  
Daisuke smiled softly. “Good… good.”

I couldn’t say why, but it felt… familiar, somehow, holding his hand.  
Not that I really got to enjoy it, before I became aware of the conversation around me. The others were discussing food – we were all starving, waiting around for so many hours, but no one was in a good enough mood to cook.  
My stomach grumbled at the thought of food, but I didn’t have a good suggestion. I was no cook myself, so any attempts on my part would be terrible.

The door opened, and Yuuma stalked out in a fouler mood than usual.  
“Finally, we’re on our last interview! Jirou Akiyama, let’s go!” Monokitty called out. Jirou slowly went into the room, giving Yuuma a wide berth.  
Yuuma paid him no attention, or any of us. He just walked back to his initial spot, sat down, and glared at the floor.  
Daisuke’s eyes were firmly fixed on him. Apparently he was still mad about last night. I gave his hand a small squeeze, and he looked back to me instead.  
“We’re almost done,” I said quietly. “We’ll be okay.”  
“You have no idea how much I hope you’re right.”

\--

“Well! That wasn’t so bad, was it kittens?” Monokitty said, releasing Jirou back into our fold. “Now we’re all on the same page, and it took no time at all!”  
The group’s response was… less than enthusiastic.  
Monokitty laughed at us, the light in its eyes flashing brightly.  
“Now, enjoy what’s left of your day, kittens! And don’t forget – you can check your motive at any time! Just make sure no one tries to peek, nyu-hu!”

As Monokitty and its office disappeared, the dancehall doors popped open on their own. Yuuma was the first to stand, heading towards the doors.  
But when he stopped, we all took notice.

He looked over his shoulder at us.  
“Dinner’s at six thirty. Show up or don’t, I don’t care.”  
Before anyone got a chance to respond, he continued on his way out.

“… Did he just… say he was cooking for us?” Kaoru asked, turning back to us.  
“Why would he do something like that?” Shizuka asked, frowning.  
“Maybe he knows he won’t eat if he doesn’t cook for himself…” Nana said, slowly getting up from her seat. “I think it’ll be interesting to see what he can make.”

With differing opinions of the upcoming meal, the group all left at different intervals. I wasn’t sure what to do for the time being – it was only five, and Yuuma wanted us at dinner at six-thirty.  
Daisuke let go of my hand, giving me a sympathetic smile. “I’ll see you at dinner, Hazuki.”  
“Okay,” I smiled back. “I’ll see you then.”  
After he left, I had to decide how to pass the time. Maybe I should get to know somebody else… there were still so many of the group I hadn’t talked to.

\--

I decided to see if anyone was hanging around the beach. The weather was very nice today – sunny, with a nice cool breeze that smelled like the ocean.  
I ran into Emi first, but she was… transfixed, on something further down.  
“Hey, Emi.”  
“SSH!” She grabbed my arm, dragging me over to her hiding spot. She had papers in her hand, with a messy diagram like the one she had made on the first day.  
“What are you doing?” I asked.  
“I’m gathering information,” she replied, quietly. “Look!”  
I looked over, onto the beach, and saw Ryuu and Kaoru sitting together.  
“You’re trying to pair them now?”  
“I didn’t have to try anything! They’ve been doing stuff like this since yesterday.”

Emi showed me her paper – there had been a few different lines from each of them to other people. Apparently, Emi took finding ideal matches so seriously, she would do it even at a time like this.  
“… I’m guessing, if you’re busy with, um, people watching… you wouldn’t like to chat with me?”  
Emi looked up, eyes wide behind her glasses.  
“Well… I think I’ve got all the information I need for now. It’ll be nice to go over my notes with someone else; should we go sit down somewhere?”

We walked over to the restaurant, sitting down at one of the outside tables. Emi checked her seat thoroughly before she did.  
“You only need to fall through a chair once,” she told me, “to be paranoid.”  
I couldn’t help but laugh. She laughed as well, while she set her papers out in front of me.  
“Is this all just for Ryuu and Kaoru?” I asked, looking over the four pages.  
“Yeah,” Emi nodded. “It all started around yesterday morning with those two. They turned up to breakfast together – well, they did have Kimihara with them, but you know what he’s like.”  
I blinked. Emi sighed.  
“You know, shy.”  
“Oh… you meant that.”  
“He’s a complicated guy,” Emi said, her eyes narrowing. “But I’m sure I can figure him out. I just need some time.”  
“How do you… ‘figure someone out’?” I asked.

Emi’s face brightened.  
“Well, it’s very simple. I study things like their body language, how they dress, their interests and character traits. Once I have a good idea of what they’re like as a person, I can set about finding someone that matches what they need.”  
“What they need? Not what they ‘like’?”  
“You’d be surprised,” Emi leaned forward, “how often I hear that question. But sometimes you have to make people realise, it’s very possible to love someone, and be completely wrong for them.”  
I nodded; it made a lot of sense, thinking about it that way.  
“It made a lot of girls at school mad,” Emi continued, looking out at the sea. “when they wanted me to set them up with one particular guy, and I’d tell them that.”  
“Did they ever figure out they weren’t a match?”  
“Well, they were all after the same guy. And we all found out eventually that he was a total jerk who cheated on his girlfriends. So they felt real stupid after that.”

Emi chuckled to herself. “Anyway, moving on. We’re talking about Ryuu and Kaoru, here.”  
“Okay,” I said, looking down at her notes, “So… what do you think?”  
“Well, at first I didn’t like them together,” Emi said, “but I spent a little more time with Kaoru, and she’s actually a lot… calmer? Calmer, than I first thought. As for Ryuu, he’s actually really gentle with girls, which is something Kaoru does need from a partner.”  
“Someone gentle?” I tilted my head. “What does that mean, exactly?”  
“Well, you’ve seen her,” Emi said, gesturing to her chest.  
My cheeks turned red.  
“Why- oh! No, I don’t mean just _physically_ gentle!” Emi waved her hands, her own face blushing. “I mean, he probably is that too, but that’s not important! Oh my god, what am I saying?”

We dissolved into laughter, embarrassed by the unintentional innuendo.  
Emi breathed deeply, calming herself.  
“Okay, okay, back to business. So, Ryuu matches Kaoru’s need for a gentle partner. I just need to spend a little more time with her to see if she matches his.”  
“What does Ryuu need in a partner?”  
“Someone calm,” Emi said, taking a thoughtful stance. “Down to earth, but can still keep up with his more energetic DJ persona. Kaoru matches the first couple of bits, but I’ve never seen them together when he’s all… working.”  
I don’t know why, but I thought back to my dream a few days ago. Before I woke up here… there was a DJ there. But they didn’t have any distinguishing features that would make me think it could be Ryuu… they hadn’t had any features at all.  
“Are you okay, Hazuki?” Emi broke me out of my thoughts, waving her hand in my face. “You kind of spaced out for a minute there.”  
“Oh… sorry. Yeah, I’m okay…”  
Emi didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t press me. Instead she looked back to her notes.  
“Well, if you really aren’t, don’t forget we do have a doctor here.”  
“Ah, that’s right…” I smiled. “Or are you trying to set me up with Keiji?”  
Emi laughed. “No, no, you’re _really_ not his type.”

\--

I didn’t realise it as we talked, but the time until dinner passed quickly. The rest of the group joined us in waiting outside – everyone was curious what kind of meal a person like Yuuma would make.  
He opened the door to the restaurant five minutes late, gesturing us to come in with his hand.

Yuuma had already set everything out on the main table – two large bowls of a strong-scented curry dish, with rice to accompany it. Everyone took to their assigned seats once again, but I could still feel a sense of… unease, covering us. It seemed that not everyone could put the day’s events out of their mind, and having such a sudden change of heart from Yuuma had done nothing to change that.

Yuuma took no notice, preoccupied with serving his meal to everyone. A few of the others gave it sceptical looks, but no one said anything.  
Finally, once everyone had their serving, Yuuma sat down in his chair.

“… Well what are you looking at? Just eat it.”

I was the first to start eating; I was never a picky eater, and I’d always had a soft spot for spicy foods. (Excepting Ryuu’s chili mutant from last night. Yuck.)  
Plus, someone had to break the ice.  
Yosuke was quick to start on his plate, once it was clear I wasn’t about to keel over from it. One by one, the others started to eat as well. Nana was the last, poking and prodding her plate for a while before, finally, Yuuma turned to her and asked why.  
Nana took a bite of it.  
“Spicy.” She said, her nose screwing up. “Tasty, but spicy.”  
“You don’t like spicy food?” Daisuke asked, looking up from his plate.  
“No. I like… sushi, mostly.”  
“Well, that’s not in my skillset. Sorry.” Yuuma went back to eating.  
“It’s fine. I’ll still eat it.”

I smiled. It was good that they were talking; everyone was talking again. Some were still quiet; tense from the day’s events, but letting it slowly wear away. Or, at least, trying to.  
We were a group. A team. If we just kept on like this, nothing could tear us apart…

Right?

\--

Within the hour, there was nothing left of Yuuma’s delicious curry. Nearly everyone had gone back for seconds – even Nana, though the pained look on her face made it clear she was regretting it.

“I have to admit, Watanabe,” Michiko said, avoiding eye contact with the man in question. “I didn’t expect someone like you to do something as kind as this. And the food was… delicious. Thank you.”  
Yuuma sighed. “Can’t you fancy girls ever just say thanks without this ‘someone like you’ bullshit? You aren’t better than me, you know. We’re all Ultimates.”  
“This may be true,” Shizuka conceded, “and you even are a master of a classical art. But this does not explain why you are so… crude.”  
Yuuma shrugged, leaning back in his chair.

“Well, you guys better get a move on. I need to get started on all these dishes, and I can’t do it if you all are gonna sit here gossiping.”  
“You’re doing the dishes by yourself?” Daisuke raised an eyebrow.  
“Figured I would, since I made all the mess.”  
“That’s not very fair,” Suzume said. She turned to Setsuko, tugging lightly on her sister’s arm. “Why don’t we help, Setsuko?”  
“Both of you?” Yuuma raised an eyebrow. “What, is baby Himura scared to be in the room with me?”  
“She’s trying to return your kindness, Watanabe.” Setsuko said, her expression a complete mask. She showed as much emotion to Yuuma as she showed to Monokitty…

Was she… secretly afraid of Yuuma, herself? Or was this her ‘threat assessment’ saying he was… dangerous?

Yuuma shrugged again, his hands in the air as he stood. “If you wanna help, I won’t say no. But the rest of you, take off.”

On our way out, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked behind me; it was Daisuke.  
“Hazuki… can I talk to you for a minute? In private?”

I suddenly felt several sets of eyes on me.  
“… I… Of course.”

\--

Daisuke led me down along the beach. He was… quiet. And not just in the not-talking sense; it was like his bright, joyful energy had been completely drained out of him. He was a few steps ahead of me, his hands in his pockets and his head tilted down towards the sand at our feet.

“What’s wrong, Daisuke?”

He stopped suddenly. I did the same, a few steps back from him.  
“… What’s wrong? Hell, what _isn’t_ wrong around here? I thought… I thought it’d only be a couple days before someone came looking for us… But this is… starting to get scary, isn’t it?”  
“Daisuke?”  
“He really won’t… won’t stop messing with us until we… do something we’ll regret. It’s… it’s crazy. It’s crazy!”  
The sudden yell startled me. I couldn’t help myself; I flinched back from him, two loud steps in the sand. Daisuke slowly turned around. His face was completely serious.

“Hazuki… This is, is really dangerous…”

He turned away from me again, looking out to the ocean.

“You and I… we shouldn’t be alone together anymore.”  
“What?” I blinked. “… What do you mean? I-I don’t understand…”  
“I feel… strange around you.” He admitted slowly, lost in his thoughts and confused by them. “Like… like we’ve known each other forever. You felt it too, didn’t you? How… normal it felt, your hand in mine?”  
I thought back. Back in the dancehall, both of us so frightened by Monokitty’s act… Daisuke held my hand that entire remaining hour, and nothing felt… new about it.  
It felt comfortable. Ordinary.  
But we… we had never met before. Had we?

Daisuke looked at me from his peripheral. His lost look turned into fear and sadness, and he said it again.  
“I can’t be alone with you. You’re making this… too complicated.”  
“Complicated?”  
“I’m afraid… of what might happen when we’re together. The way I feel when I see you,” he breathed deeply, shakily, “I can barely control myself even now.”

My arms tightened around my body. What was he saying…? I still didn’t understand.

“We can still, still hang around each other. But it’s for the best if there’s… always someone else there. It’s for the best.”  
“… Okay. I don’t…. understand what you’re trying to say, but… I’ll listen.”  
He smiled at me. There was so much to unpack from it; so many emotions, dancing in his eyes.  
“Maybe… maybe one day, we could…” He started, then stopped himself. “No, that’s cruel to make us think about. Let’s focus on now, okay? We’ll focus on getting rescued.”  
I nodded.

“Now, you should probably go deal with the others.”  
“The others?”  
Daisuke rubbed the back of his head. “You didn’t notice? Emi, Kaoru and Ai followed us.”  
… They did what!?  
I looked over my shoulder, and sure enough, barely hidden behind an old bench were the three culprits.  
“What are you three doing!?”

Ai stood up first, rolling her shoulders.  
“These two were saying dumb stuff about an… oh-tee-pee? I don’t know. I was just making sure you were gonna be safe.”  
“It’s Daisuke!” Emi protested. “He’d never do anything to hurt Hazuki!”  
“But, that definitely looked kind of… sad,” Kaoru said, leaning over the bench. “Are you okay, honey? Do you want to tell us what he said?”  
“It’s nothing,” I shook my head. “He just… no, it’s nothing. Don’t worry.”

I still didn’t understand his words, myself. How could I explain it to them?

Ai turned to the others, crossing her arms. “All right, that’s enough weirdness for one day. Let’s get back to the hotel, huh?”  
“I guess…” Emi sighed. “Were my facts wrong…?”  
Kaoru straightened up, her ponytail slipping over her shoulder. “Come on, Emi, it’s okay. She said it was nothing, so it was nothing.”  
“I know, but…”  
“Come on,” Kaoru pinched her cheek. “Let’s get going.”

\--

The trip back to the hotel was uneventful, mainly filled with conversation about Emi’s ‘facts’ about me and Daisuke being perfect for each other. When we got into the foyer, Ai was quick to usher them upstairs.

I looked in the corner and saw why.

Hikaru was there, watching the door. He’d pulled an armchair away from the main sitting area, curled up with a magazine.  
“Good evening, Hikaru,” I said quietly. He looked up slowly, and tried to smile back.  
“H-hello. Are you heading upstairs?”

I nodded. “What are you doing down here?”  
“Well, it’s, uh… it’s for Jirou.” Hikaru said, looking around. He gestured for me to come closer, and I did.

“I’m k-keeping an eye out, f-for when Watanabe comes b-back.”

I blinked. “Why are you doing that?”  
“I-I didn’t ask. Jirou… Jirou wasn’t h-him, himself. When w-we came back, he asked me to watch f-for a while, until h-he got here.”  
“Do you think it’s about… wait, did he tell you about yesterday?”  
“When Watanabe th-threw him? Yes, yes he told me. He s-said he’s, he’s worried Watanabe m-might be planning s-something after, after the meeting th-this morning…”  
The motives… I wondered what Monokitty said to Yuuma, and to Jirou.

“I d-don’t mind sitting up,” Hikaru said, looking at the door. “I’m u-usually up pretty late, late anyway.”  
“You too?”  
He blinked at me. “Nana’s always up late. She says it’s because she has insomnia.”  
“Ah,” he said, nodding in complete understanding. “Th-that explains her, her dark circles… H-how does she cope w-with it here?”  
“She… paces.”  
Hikaru nodded again. “O-okay. Well, y-you should get s-some rest your, yourself, Hazuki. Good, good night.”  
“Good night, Hikaru.”

\--

Even now, I couldn’t get the conversation with Daisuke out of my head. From the time I got into my room, taking a shower, drying my hair, to climbing into bed. I stared at the ceiling in the dark, drifting into a thoughtful haze.

I wasn’t sure how long I spent, staring into space. I vaguely heard the night-time announcement, but I still wasn’t ready to go to sleep.  
I tried to put it all out of my head, but it just… wouldn’t go. What was Daisuke so worried about, that he didn’t want to be alone with me anymore? What did he mean, he could barely control himself?

A sharp knocking at my door snapped me out of it. I checked the time on my e-Handbook; who would be at my door at one in the morning?  
The knocking happened again. I jumped out of bed, all but running to the door.

It was Suzume.

But this was different than the last two nights. She arrived so late, and looked… genuinely terrified. She wasn’t in her pyjamas, either. She was still in her everyday clothes, straight down to her shoes.  
“Suzume? Are you okay? What happened?”  
“P-please…” she whispered. “C-can you let me in?”  
“Of course…!” I stepped aside. Suzume slowly walked into my room, taking off her shoes near the door.

“I-I’m so sorry, sorry… I know it’s late… Um, I’m sorry, but… can I borrow something to wear to bed?”  
I looked down at her dress. Of course she wouldn’t be able to sleep in something like that… I hurried over to my chest of drawers, fetching a pair of pyjamas for her.  
“Here you go,” I held them out. She slowly took them; I caught a glimpse of something red on her wrist. I tried to put it out of my mind. I was sure, whatever it was, she would have run straight to Setsuko if it was serious.  
She hurried into the bathroom once she had the pyjamas. I sat back on the bed, watching the door carefully. I heard the sound of water running… She was in there for a little longer than expected.

Soon she came back out, all but sprinting to hop into the bed beside me.  
“Thank you, Hazuki… thank you…”  
“It’s okay, Suzume. Try to get some rest, okay? I’ll stay up until you go to sleep, if you want.”  
She closed her eyes, curling into a ball.  
It was so… confusing. The entire last two days had been so confusing… I suddenly felt so exhausted. Once I was sure the soft breathing from Suzume meant she was asleep, I collapsed backwards and closed my eyes.

I wanted to sleep… I wanted to dream this time…

But dreams weren’t real in this place.

Only nightmares.

\--

I woke up, not to the sound of Monokitty’s morning announcement, but to a constant, loud banging on my room door. I pushed myself up, feeling sluggish.  
Suzume pulled the blanket over her head, ignoring the noise.

Whoever it was, they were completely relentless. So I dragged myself out of bed, walking over to the door…  
Twice in one night. What were the odds?

“Who is…”  
I blinked. It was Nana, wearing an old-fashioned lavender nightdress… and a horrified, wide-eyed expression.  
“Nana?”  
Her teeth were grit together, and she made a guttural sound through them.  
“NGGH… NGGH!”  
“Nana, what’s wrong? What happened?”

Before I could try and calm her down, Nana grabbed my wrist in a vice grip, and dragged me towards the stairs.  
“Nana! What are you doing!?”  
“Nnnnn…. Down! Down th-there!”  
She pointed down the stairs, avoiding looking at them herself… What was down there?

My heart started to pulse in my ears. Slowly, I walked towards the stairs. My bare feet stepped in something… sticky.  
I didn’t have time to look at what it was. I was… transfixed on the sight before me. I suddenly couldn’t breathe.

“… N-no… it… it can’t be…”

There was a massive pool of… of blood, at the base of the stairs.

And lying in that pool of blood, body broken like a child’s plaything…

It was Jirou.

Jirou Akiyama, the Ultimate Mathematician, was dead.


	5. Chapter 1 - Deadly Life: Common Enemies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the first body discovered, the resort guests must work together to find the killer among them... but who can be trusted?

**CHAPTER ONE**

**DEADLY LIFE: COMMON ENEMIES**

**\--**

I wanted to tell myself it was an impossible nightmare. Even a cruel prank. Anything but the truth… that Jirou was, without a doubt, dead in a heap.  
But I couldn’t.

Nana grabbed my arm, snapping me back to reality. I turned to her, realizing horribly late how terrified she was too. After all, she’d seen the body first.  
She opened and closed her mouth like a fish. She was pale, in a cold sweat. I took her hand in mine.

“Nana, wait here. You don’t have to look at him again; just wait here and don’t let anyone go down there until I come back.”  
“Back? Where, where are you going?”  
“Upstairs,” I said, gently pulling her off my arm, “to get Keiji. He might know… something we can do.”  
She nodded. “O-okay. But hurry!”  
I felt the strange stickiness of the floor again when I went to move, but I didn’t have time to worry about it. I had to get upstairs… I had to find Keiji’s room.  
If I remembered right… he was at the very far back of the floor, between the corner rooms. When I got to the top of the stairs, I ran as fast as I could around that way. I hammered my fist on his door when I reached it, shouting his name at the same time.

A moment later, Keiji opened the door. He looked like he’d only just woken up, but he was coherent – and very worried.  
“What is it, what’s happened?”  
My voice suddenly clammed in my throat. I had to say it… I had to say…

“It, it’s Jirou. He’s… please, you have to come with me, right now!”  
Keiji paused for a second, but he nodded.  
We ran back to the second floor, where Nana was waiting. She pointed down the lower stairs when Keiji arrived, completely silent.  
Keiji stepped forward, looking down. His body suddenly tensed, and his breathing froze.

“My god…”

Suddenly, the three bells for the announcement played.

“ _NYA-HA-HA-HA!_ Body discovery, body discovery! All guests, please report to the second floor landing immediately for further instructions!”

“So it… It’s really true. He’s… he’s dead.” Nana whispered. As I nodded, she suddenly moved to me, clinging to my arm again with her head on my shoulder. Keiji let out the breath he’d been holding, turning back to us.  
“What will happen now?” he asked. I was silent. I had no idea.

Ai was the first one to join us. She stormed out of her room, not even bothering to make herself presentable. But she’d remembered to grab her pistol; I didn’t blame her, with an announcement like that.  
Shortly after, Suzume peered out of the door to my room. She kept looking around the corner; waiting for Setsuko no doubt.  
Jun and Daisuke arrived down the stairs first, shortly followed by Fuyuki, Ryuu and Hikaru. The remainder arrived in a hurry.  
“What’s going on?” Michiko asked when we were all present. “What did that mean, ‘body discovery’?”  
“Look down there,” Keiji said, stepping aside from the lower stairs, “and you’ll find out.”

No one wanted to look. We all looked around each other, waiting for someone else to make the first move. Nana, still curled into my side, quickly tired of their hesitation.  
“If you don’t want to look, just figure it out. Who’s missing?”  
Michiko’s eyes narrowed as she examined the group, then widened as she found her answer. She immediately made for the stairs, looking down.  
“… Jirou?” she whispered.

The name caused a snap. One by one, everyone took a look at what had happened. At Jirou’s broken body at the foot of the stairs.  
“Somebody… did that to him?” Kaoru asked, her hand over her mouth.  
“It can’t be. Nobody would…” Ryuu started, but was suddenly cut off.

“ _FUCK YES SOMEBODY DID THAT!_ OH, I’m so proud of that little kitten!”

Monokitty appeared in the centre of our group, cackling wildly.

“You can’t be serious. You did this, didn’t you!?” Ai shouted.  
“Nope!”  
“Don’t lie to us, you monster!” Fuyuki pointed, right in the robot’s face. “You got sick of waiting and took the first life yourself!”  
“Oh come on,” Monokitty slapped his hand away. “If I was gonna do that, why would I bother _GIVING YOU BRATS INCENTIVE!?”  
_Incentive. He… gave someone a good enough reason to kill.  
“See,” Monokitty raised its paw to me, a small heart appearing in its red eye. “Hazuki understands.”  
“Hazuki?” Nana looked up at me.  
“It… it’s telling us the truth. It didn’t do this… one of us did.” The words fell out of my mouth.

I was shattered. I’d believe in everyone. I’d trusted that everyone would do the right thing… but all I had to do was look at Jirou’s body once again to know that was no longer the case.  
I didn’t want to doubt anyone. But the facts didn’t lie.  
“Now, let’s get down to business, shall we?” Monokitty asked, waving at us to pay attention.

“Since one of you lovely kittens finally _GOT_ _OFF YOUR ASS_ and did something, it’s time to reveal the second part of the escape clause!”  
“There’s a second part?” Yosuke asked, scratching his hair. Monokitty chuckled.  
“Any kitten got their e-handbook?”  
  
Nana produced hers from her nightgown, holding it out for the robot. Monokitty opened it up, swiping over to the ‘Rules’ tab.

  1. _IN ORDER TO GAIN PERMISSION TO LEAVE THE ISLAND, A GUEST MUST MURDER ANOTHER, AND BECOME ‘BLACKENED’._
  2. _MONOKITTY DOES NOT COUNT AS ‘ANOTHER’. ONLY GUESTS COUNT IN ORDER TO BECOME ‘BLACKENED’. VIOLENCE TOWARDS MONOKITTY WILL BE SEVERELY PUNISHED._
  3. _ONCE A GUEST HAS BECOME ‘BLACKENED’, A CLASS TRIAL WILL SOON TAKE PLACE. IN ORDER TO SUCCESSFULLY LEAVE THE ISLAND, THE ‘BLACKENED’ MUST NOT BE DISCOVERED._



“There is going to be a trial?” Shizuka asked. Monokitty laughed, tossing the handbook back to Nana.  
“ _YOU GOT IT, BABY!_ After all, where’s the fun in a murder without facing the consequences of your actions? So, it’s all very simple. I’ll head over and get the courtroom ready. You lot can do whatever you want – go back to sleep, have breakfast, poke the body with a stick – and when the trial’s ready, you’ll head over and then the _FUN REALLY BEGINS!_ ”  
Cackling madly, Monokitty disappeared as soon as he’d arrived.

A black cloud of terror had fallen over us.  
“… What do we do?” Suzume asked.  
“Everyone go back to your rooms and get dressed,” Ai said, her voice firm. “Then, we’re going to figure out who did this.”  
“We already know who did this.” Michiko countered. We all turned to her very suddenly.

“Who _else_ isn’t here?” she asked. We looked around, and realised a very noticeable absence.

Yuuma was missing.

“You think Yuuma…” I started, but Shizuka cut me off.  
“It does make perfect sense. He was the most antagonistic of us all, and he particularly disliked Akiyama. His absence here only speaks volumes towards his guilt; he could not even bear to face the outcome of his violence.”  
“But, that… that just doesn’t seem right…”

“I don’t know,” Yosuke said, scratching the back of his head. “The fact he’s not even here…”  
“And he did throw Jirou around rather easily,” Jun said, his arms wrapped around himself like a protective blanket. “It wouldn’t be hard to throw him down the stairs like that…”  
“Then it’s settled,” Michiko folded her arms. “We know the culprit, so let’s find him and bring him to Monokitty.”  
“Hold on, please!” I raised my hands. Michiko gave me a look as cold as ice.

“Are you _still_ trying to stand up for that monster, Satou? I knew you were naïve, but I didn’t think you were braindead. Look at the evidence and tell me you don’t see it yourself.”  
I looked at the evidence. I looked at Jirou’s body, I looked at the bloody stairs. I looked at our group, so full of doubt, each one watching me for my response.

… And I told them.

“I think you’re wrong, Michiko. I think you’re jumping to conclusions, just like you did with Ai and Yosuke.”  
Michiko froze. The group’s heads whipped around to her, watching that icy anger steel in her eyes.  
“… Fine. Have it your way; everyone, get dressed and look around for clues. And find Watanabe while you’re at it.”  
Before anyone moved, she jabbed her finger into my chest. “But if you’re wrong, you’re as good as an accomplice, and you’ll get what you deserve right along with him.”

Someone grabbed her hand and forced it away from me.

“That’s enough threats for one day, I think.” Daisuke said, putting himself between us. “You know what, I agree with her. You’ve got no idea who did this, but no one’s ever told you that what you think isn’t what’s actually right.”  
“Ugh, spare me,” Michiko scoffed. “You think we’re all blind here, Nagasaki? Hell, Ikeda called it from day one, you’re just trying to get into her pants by protecting her.”  
“At least someone would ever want to,” Daisuke smirked.  
The reaction was amazing… and ridiculous. Michiko was stunned, her face going red in embarrassment. Shizuka looked ready to rip Daisuke’s face off for the insult. As for the others, well, it was a mixed response of stifled laughter and gasps.

“Need I remind everyone,” Setsuko cut in, her cold tone stunning everyone into silence. “Our friend remains dead at the stairs beneath us. This is hardly the time to argue.”  
She was right. We all turned into sheepish children.

“Jirou’s death deserves justice. Let’s get moving and deliver it to him.”

\--

Everyone moved in a hurry. Before I could change, I had to wait for Suzume to take her clothes back to her room.

Usually, it took me half an hour to get completely ready. But we didn’t have time for luxuries. I dressed myself and brushed my hair, and when I stepped out to the hall again, Monokitty had returned.

“Almost forgot! You’re gonna need this, kitten!”

It held out a black-and-white folder with its cat symbol on the front, and a ‘#1’ printed beside it.  
“What’s this?”  
“It’s the Monokitty File! It has all the information I’ve compiled on the victim. Well, see you soon!”

**Truth Bullet: ‘Monokitty File #1’ acquired!**

As soon as it disappeared, I opened the file.

_The victim in this case is Jirou Akiyama, the Ultimate Mathematician. The time of death is estimated at 1:15 a.m., taking place at the base of the hotel stairs. The cause of death appears to be a combination of internal and external blood loss, and mild suffocation._

Mild suffocation? How was there such a thing as ‘mild suffocation’?  
I closed the file, and looked over at the landing. While everyone was gone, I took the time to examine the floor.  
Earlier, I’d stepped in something sticky. Now that I had the chance to look, I realised it was… blood. Jirou’s blood.  
But he’d fallen from this floor to the first one, hadn’t he? Why would his blood be… here?

**Truth Bullet: ‘Bloodstains on the Second Floor’ acquired!**

Keiji came down the stairs soon after, giving me one look before he continued on.  
“What are you doing?” I asked.  
“I’m not an official coroner,” he replied, carefully stepping around the blood at the base, “but I’m the best we have right now. I’ll need some time to perform a full examination, but I’ll let you all know as soon as I’m finished.”  
I nodded to him. While he was down there, I was going to see what else I could find.

But first… I wanted to check up on Nana.

I hurried along to her room – the back corner of the building – and knocked on her door. After a moment of waiting, she opened up. Fully dressed, with Chouko tucked into her overalls.  
“Hi…” she said, her voice still quiet and frightened.  
“I wanted to see how you were. Are you all right?”  
Nana shook her head. “I’ve never… seen a human body… like that.”  
“Were you pacing? To calm down?” I asked, and she nodded in return.

“I ended up doing a lot of it last night. There were some… strange things happening.”  
“Strange? Like what?”  
Nana looked around, then ushered me closer.  
“Did you read it? The file?”  
I nodded.  
“It says he died at 1:15… I was pacing, just before one in the morning. I stayed back here that time, but… two things were different. I heard someone else pacing around too.”  
Someone else?  
“You think you might have heard the killer?”  
She sighed. “I… I don’t know. I wasn’t sure if it was up a floor or on this one… and I couldn’t hear anything when I got back into my room. I ran back just before one because…”

Nana quickly looked around again, then whispered to me.

“Himura left her door open last night. The light was on, so she was definitely awake. But I didn’t check if she was inside.”  
My eyes went wide. Setsuko wouldn’t do something so risky… would she?  
Nana looked around once more, then retreated further into her room. “I-I don’t think there’s anything… else. I’m just… going to stay in here until later.”  
“Why?” I asked.  
“Because… because… if I look at him again…” she stopped, suddenly lurching strangely.  
“I might… throw up. You should go.”  
“Okay. Drink some water and rest, Nana. You’ve had a rough morning.”  
“It could be worse,” she smiled, but it was grim. “I could be the corpse.”

**Truth Bullet: ‘Nana’s Account’ acquired!**

Nana quickly disappeared into her room, the door nearly slamming shut. That was all I was going to get from her, so I decided to continue my investigation with the lead she gave me.

Setsuko.

I headed down the hallway, passing Michiko’s room. I couldn’t help but remember the hate in Michiko’s voice earlier, when she decided Yuuma was guilty.  
I didn’t know for sure, but I just… couldn’t picture him being the culprit. It was almost _too_ obvious. But if it wasn’t him, then who was it? That was the harder question…

I knocked on Setsuko’s door when I reached it. I didn’t even know for sure if she was still in there; everyone had headed back to their rooms just to get dressed, and Setsuko’s outfit was so simple it couldn’t have taken her long to put it on…  
Still, I was surprised again. Setsuko opened the door, looking down at me with a stoic expression.  
“What is it? Is something else wrong?” she asked. She didn’t sound right; she had dulled all emotion from her voice along with her expression. This must be her ‘work’ persona; cold, calculating… and assessing the threat of everyone around her.  
“Oh, I-I just… wanted to ask you something.”  
“Yes?”  
“Well…” I paused, noticing something. “… What happened to your arm?”

Setsuko looked at her wrist. There was a nasty scratch on it, the end disappearing under her glove. She didn’t seem to react to it, but she turned back to me and said something… very unusual for her.

“That is none of your business.”

I nearly flinched at the sharpness in her tone. She seemed to falter for a second at that, but only for a second.  
“What was your other question?”  
“I… It’s nothing, never mind.”  
Her eyebrow raised, but she didn’t ask. “If that’s all, I need to go. I’m going to help Ai guard Jirou’s body.”  
“Guard it…?”  
“If the culprit is dumb enough to think they can tamper with the crime scene,” she said, stepping around me and closing her door. “They will have much more to deal with than their victim.”

I watched her walk away down the hall. I was so confused by the way she was acting now. And that scratch on her arm… It seemed so familiar…

**Truth Bullet: ‘Himuras’ Scratches’ acquired!**

Well, there was nothing else for it. I decided to go back around to the crime scene, but as I was on my way back, Kaoru stepped out of her room. She smiled weakly when she saw me coming; she looked pale, as if she’d been sick like Nana had.  
“Hey, girl,” she greeted. “Are you holding up okay? Keiji told me you were one of the ones who saw… all that, first.”  
“Yeah, I’m okay.” I smiled gently. “Are you? You look pale.”  
She brushed her fringe out of her face for a moment, but it quickly fell back into place. “I… I don’t know, honestly. I just can’t believe it… That one of _us_ did that to him.”  
“I can hardly believe it either…”  
“Well, hopefully we can find out who did it,” Kaoru sighed, hands on her hips. “In the meantime, I’m gonna go check on Hikaru.”  
“Hikaru?”  
“He and Jirou were like, really close. They were hanging out a whole lot recently, and you’ve seen how timid the poor thing is. He’s gotta be so upset.”

It was fair to say we all were, but I agreed with her. I should check on him as well; maybe he could tell me some more about last night…

Kaoru and I walked to the staircase together, but we stopped at the landing. Kaoru pulled on my sleeve before I started going down to the crime scene.  
“What’s wrong?” I asked, looking over to her. She pointed at the stairs, and I looked. I was about to step into a pool of blood.  
“Oh.”  
“That’s like, a lot of blood for a fall, isn’t it?” Kaoru asked, curling her fingers into her ponytail. “Maybe he hit his head on the way down…? That usually causes a lot of blood.” I suggested, but Kaoru shook her head.  
“No, I don’t think so… Like, I’ve hit my head enough to split it before, but… he was too tall to hit it on that step. That’s… something else, you know?”  
I didn’t really know, but she was making some sense. Maybe I should talk to Keiji about it.

**Truth Bullet: ‘Pooled blood on top step’ acquired!**

I nodded to Kaoru, and she smiled gently. As if she was… happy, that I was taking her seriously. She turned headed up the stairs to the third floor, while I made my careful way down to the first.

It really was a crime scene now. Keiji kneeled beside Jirou’s body, still examining him. Ai stood to one side of the room, blocking the hotel exit, and Setsuko stood at the other, watching Keiji’s work and the stairs at the same time.  
I stepped around the blood, tapping Keiji gently on the shoulder. He raised his head, looking completely serious and calm.  
“How’s it going?” I asked, aware of how stupid it sounded coming out of my mouth. How’s examining our friend’s dead body going? Seriously?

“It’s… coming along. I’ve nearly finished, but… there are a few things bothering me here.”  
“Like what?”  
“Are you sure you want to know?” he asked, giving me a concerned look. “How strong is your stomach?”  
I paused. “… I need to know. For the sake of finding who killed him…”

Keiji nodded to me, then showed me what he was worried about.

There was an ugly bruise on Jirou’s throat. Keiji had wiped the blood from it enough to see; it formed a line straight along, but the skin wasn’t broken.  
“I won’t ask you to feel it yourself,” Keiji began, but he pressed a finger against Jirou’s throat, “but here, I can tell there’s some significant damage. I think the reason the file stated ‘mild suffocation’ was this; his larynx has been crushed against something, and his breathing became obstructed.”  
I felt a chill in the air. From her post at the door, Ai shifted uncomfortably.  
“Could something like that cause him to… spit out blood?” I asked. Keiji looked up at me, shocked by my question.  
“It’s just… at the top of the stairs there,” I pointed. Keiji looked up, trying to see from his spot, but ultimately he had to stand and see for himself.  
“I thought maybe he’d hit his head, but Kaoru said it was too high up for that to be the case.”  
Keiji crouched down, examining the step carefully.

“… There are a few reasons that could explain this,” he said, finally, “But I think Kaoru was on to something. This is starting to put some pieces together for me…”

Keiji quickly returned to his spot, now gently examining the back of Jirou’s head. “This explains the fracture.”  
“What is it, doc?” Ai asked, across the room.  
“The back of his head has some dirt marks on it that I couldn’t quite place, but now it makes sense. His attacker…” Keiji paused, swallowing. “… His attacker stepped on the back of his head and neck to… to force his throat into the edge of the stairs. The intent may have been to… prevent him calling for help.”  
We were all shocked silent. Not only had someone killed him… they’d done it in such a brutal, callous way.

**Truth Bullet: ‘Keiji’s Autopsy’ acquired!**

Keiji lowered Jirou’s head, swallowing once more. “I’m… I’m sorry. This is… not something I’m familiar with.”  
“Take your time,” Setsuko said, returning the softness to her voice that I’d become used to. Keiji nodded to her, then continued his work.

“The majority of the blood loss was internal, but the amount of blood around his body is… startling. I believe your theory here; that the majority may have been caused by injuries to the head. Aside from the blood and the throat damage, there’s only one thing that intrigues me.”  
I watched him reach over to Jirou’s arm. It was extended out, as if Jirou had been trying to reach for something. His hand had escaped the pool of blood, completely clean as Keiji picked it up by the wrist.  
“Take a look at his nails, Hazuki.”

I moved around to the side, crouching down to examine them. Jirou’s hand had paled in colour, his hand stuck in a claw position. Had he been trying to drag himself from this spot?  
I shook the thought out of my head. I had to concentrate on the now… Jirou would have to forgive me later.

I peered closely at his nails. Three were shockingly dirty; a deep, reddish-brown colour staining the bottom of them. Something was caught in there, as well. However, his thumb and pinkie fingernails were clean of whatever it was.  
“What do you think it is?” I asked Keiji as he lowered the hand back to the ground.  
“Judging by the colour and scent,” Keiji replied, “I believe it is dried blood.”  
“Gross,” Ai shuddered.

I couldn’t help sneaking a glance at Setsuko’s arm. She moved it, very subtly, into a folded arm stance, protecting it from view.  
… It couldn’t have been…

**Truth Bullet: ‘Jirou’s Nails’ acquired!**

I straightened up, dusting myself off. Before I excused myself, however, Ai beckoned me over to her.

“What’s the matter, Ai?”  
“Besides the deceased?” she raised her eyebrow. “Something’s bothering me about the location.”  
Ai put her hands on her hips, lowering her head.  
“… Did you hear anything when all this was happening?”  
I thought about it. I hadn’t heard anything other than Suzume knocking on my door.

“I didn’t hear anything, no…”  
“I thought it was strange,” Ai folded her arms. “Neither of us heard a thing, and the murder was happening right outside of our rooms. But we definitely hear it when someone knocks on our doors, so why didn’t we know what was going on?”  
“Were you asleep?” I asked, and Ai shrugged.  
“I may have been, but I’m a really light sleeper. Sometimes my own snoring wakes me up.” She said, giving a little smile at the end of her sentence.  
“But this is driving me crazy…”

I thought about it… and decided to try something crazy.

“Excuse me, Monokitty?”  
From behind the sign-in desk sprang the psychotic robotic cat.  
“You called for me, and so I’m here! Such manners, too! Oh, I do love it when you kittens say my name so sweetly!”  
“What are you doing!?” Ai hissed to me, but I gave her a smile.  
“I have a question about the rooms here, if that’s all right.”

Holographic cartoon hearts fluttered and popped around Monokitty’s head like bubbles.  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Careful, my little kitten! You’re being so sweet and kind, I might just fall ears over paws! Ask me your question, ask me, ask me!”

“Why can’t we hear anything going on outside, unless it’s someone knocking on our doors?”

Monokitty froze.  
“… Well, that’s pretty obvious, don’t you think? It’s because your rooms are **soundproof**!”  
“Soundproof?” Ai repeated. “Except for the door?”  
“That’s right!” Monokitty spun around on its chair, tossing confetti. “You can hear the door being knocked on because of how it’s made, but when that door is shut tight, no sound gets in, and no sound gets out!”  
“But what about,” Setsuko asked, slowly. “if someone leaves their door open?”  
“Well…” Monokitty side-eyed her, the joy in its voice disappearing as it recognised who it was speaking to. “For one thing, it’d make it very easy for someone to sneak in. For two things, it’d mean you’d hear whatever was going on outside your room! And for three things, it’d make you look like a floozy, I mean really! Leaving your door open for just anyone to walk in! I coulda just waltzed on in and seen you in your kitten suit!”  
Setsuko rolled her eyes. “I don’t particularly care if people see me naked.”

Monokitty appeared to blush, completely shocked.  
“Why, I never! Such brazen confidence! I must go before my innocent programming gets _CORRUPTED BY THIS SLEAZE!_ ”  
It disappeared as quickly as it came. Ai turned back to me, giving me a smile.

“Well, good work making that cat answer you. I guess we know why we didn’t hear anything, huh?”  
I nodded to her. “We couldn’t have heard him unless we had our doors open, and if the doors were open… we’d have just gone and looked at who did it.”  
“It sure explains why I’ve never heard anything late at night,” Ai scratched her head. “Especially since Nana apparently wanders around the place like a little ghost.”

**Truth Bullet: ‘Soundproof Rooms’ acquired!**

“I think I’ve done all I can do down here,” I turned around, towards the stairs. “I’m going to see how everyone else is doing.”  
“Hey, do us a favour,” Ai tapped my shoulder. “Try and find Watanabe before Ueda does. The last thing we need is those two exploding at each other, especially since she’s gonna be already super pissed after what Nagasaki said to her.”  
I flushed a little, remembering Daisuke all but admitting he wanted to… well. It wasn’t relevant, but it still was embarrassing.  
Ai noticed, pinching my cheek with a little wink. “How does it feel, knowing you’re cute? C’mon, you better get moving. Do you wanna look for Watanabe outside, or check the third floor first?”  
I thought about it, but I knew what would decide my answer.

“Is Michiko still in the hotel?”  
Ai nodded. “I’ll stall her as much as I can while you go.”  
“Ai… do you believe Yuuma did this?”

To my surprise, Ai shook her head. “He’s an asshole, but not an idiot. He wouldn’t go for someone he so obviously hated. No, I think there’s someone else we need to worry about on this one…”

She stepped aside, holding the door open for me. “Try the restaurant first. Last time anyone saw him, he was there.”  
“Thanks, Ai, I’ll do that.”

\--

I opened the restaurant door slowly. It looked completely empty, the tables still in position from last night’s dinner.  
“Yuuma? Yuuma, are you in here?” I called out, walking towards the kitchen.  
A hand raised from behind the service counter, waving at me. I walked around, finding Yuuma sitting slouched on the floor. He looked… miserable.  
“… What’s going on?” he asked, quiet and tired. “I thought I heard a… an announcement?”  
“Wait, you don’t know what’s going on at all?” I asked.

Yuuma raised his eyebrow at me for a moment, studying my face. His eyes slowly widened as he realised something was terribly wrong.  
“What happened?” he asked, dragging himself to his feet.  
“Someone’s… someone’s killed Jirou.”

Yuuma froze, supporting himself against the counter with both hands.

“… Someone… what?”  
“Someone’s killed Jirou,” I paused, then had to add, “and… and Michiko is positive it was you.”  
Yuuma exhaled, an exhausted, shaking breath. His eyes were closed, and I saw the dark circles underneath them.  
“… Of course she is,” he muttered, “She’s calling for my head on a spike, is she?”  
“Something like that.”  
He turned to me. “And you? You’re going to prove me innocent, cause you’re our sweet, innocent Hazuki Satou?”  
I folded my arms. “I don’t believe you did it, no. But you’re not making me very happy about having to prove it.”  
He opened his mouth, then paused. He shook his head, scratching his hair.

“Look, I’m sorry, all right? I’ve had a shitty enough night without having to deal with this…”  
“What are you doing out here? Everyone was scared when you weren’t there at the announcement…”  
Yuuma sighed. “I… got locked out.”  
I blinked. “… You what?”  
“I missed the cut-off. The hotel doors lock with the night-time announcement, remember? I wasn’t done with all this cleaning shit until after midnight, thanks to those fucking useless sisters.”

That’s right; Suzume volunteered herself and Setsuko to help Yuuma clean up after dinner last night, but they were both back in the hotel before eleven.  
“Yuuma, I know you hate having to repeat yourself,” I said, taking a seat on the counter. “But I need you to tell me everything that happened last night.”

He groaned, leaning on the countertop again.

“Well… If I remember right, we all finished dinner up around… shit, 7:30? We were all out of here pretty early…”  
“How did you end up here until midnight if you were doing dishes around then?”  
Yuuma turned on me with a glare. “The fucking Himuras is how. Soon as we get everything into the kitchen, you know what fucking baby sister starts getting up to? She decides, oh hey, let’s add _more_ dishes to the pile by surprising us with some… cupcakes, muffins, I don’t know I was too pissed at her.”  
My eyebrows raised up. “She really just… started baking?”  
“Look, I don’t understand how that little nutjob’s mind works,” Yuuma shook his head. “I just know she starts doing it, even though me _and_ her sister are telling her now’s not a good time. I gave up trying to talk with her, just started doing the dishes. Next thing I know, they’re having an all-out screamfest right behind me.”  
“They were fighting?”  
“Sure were,” he nodded. “I guess Himura was still telling her off for baking so late, and then Baby Himura started throwing a fit about being told off by her sister. Next thing I know, she’s out the door in tears and her sister’s chasing after her. And look who’s left with a fucking demolished kitchen to clean up, all on his own?”  
That explained it. But it was strange… Setsuko and Suzume had never argued like that before. But why would Yuuma lie about two people who had no reason to back him up if it wasn’t true? Setsuko thought he was a nuisance at best, and Suzume was downright afraid of him.

“So I kept cleaning up, and just… stayed in here after the night-time announcement went off. Didn’t really sleep well, and the speaker in here isn’t too good for the morning stuff.”  
Yuuma suddenly looked at me strangely – there was a pleading look in his eyes.

“So now you know it all… do you still believe I’m innocent?”  
I thought over his story. Nothing beyond Setsuko and Suzume fighting stuck out as particularly hard to believe… but the more I thought about it, the more _that_ made sense too. Suzume’s behaviour had been grating on Setsuko, and Suzume was definitely the type to throw a tantrum if the mood struck her.  
So I fixed Yuuma with a determined look.

“Yes, I do.”

**Truth Bullet: ‘Yuuma’s Account’ acquired!**

“Well, uh… good. Thanks.” He rubbed the back of his head, looking away from me. “But what happens now? You said Ueda’s looking to tear me a new one.”  
“I think it’s for the best if you come back to the hotel with me,” I said, hopping off the counter. “That way, you can see for yourself what’s happened.”  
“… How bad is he?”

The quiet question was so strange, coming from him.

“He… It’s bad.” I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself. “You’ll see right away… He’s in the entrance.”  
“Shit…” Yuuma exhaled. “All right, let’s go.”

\--

We hurried back to the hotel. I made sure to knock on the door before we went in, just in case we’d startled Ai. She stepped aside, letting us in.  
“Just in time,” Ai said, gesturing towards the crime scene. “Ueda’s getting Haruno’s info…”

Yuuma had frozen in place behind me, his eyes set in a dead stare on Jirou’s body.  
“Holy shit…” he whispered, “You said it was bad, but… I didn’t think it would be… _this_.”  
Michiko’s head whipped around. Her cool expression twisted into utter fury when she spotted Yuuma.  
“Don’t act like you’re surprised, you murderer!” she shouted. She took a step forward, but was stopped in an instant by Setsuko.  
I had no idea how she moved so fast. One second, she was up against the wall with her arms folded; the next, she was holding Michiko by the arm and the shoulder, keeping her firmly away from Yuuma.  
“Let go of me!”  
“I will not,” Setsuko glared at her. It frightened Michiko enough to calm her down, even for a second.

“He did it, Himura. I know he did!”  
“You don’t know that.”  
“Let me go, damn it!”  
“I won’t let you go until you calm down. You’re going to do something you’ll regret.”

Ai turned to us. “You two better get upstairs, keep looking around.”  
“I think that’s a good idea.” I nodded, but Yuuma wouldn’t move.

“… Yuuma?”  
“… It’s not right, damn it.” He breathed.  
“What?” Ai blinked.  
“I said it’s not fucking right! Why is he dead!? You all talked a big fucking game, didn’t you? About how nothing was ever going to happen, because we’re all _friends_!? Well that turned out to be a load of shit, didn’t it!?”  
Ai pulled me away from him, letting him storm over towards Jirou’s body. He collapsed on his knees beside him, beside Keiji and Michiko.  
“He’s… fucking _dead_. He didn’t have to… He didn’t have to, damn it!”  
Michiko was shocked into silence, staring down at him. Setsuko still held onto her, watching Yuuma closely.

I walked over slowly, placing my hand on his shoulder. I could see Keiji wanted to, but his hands were already bloody; the last thing Yuuma needed was Jirou’s blood on his shoulder.  
“Yuuma…”  
“… Tell me everything, Haruno,” he said, his tone steeling. “I need to catch up.”  
Keiji nodded, beginning the explanation of his autopsy again. I decided to leave them, and continue my investigation on the third floor.

\--

The first thing I found up there was a trio – Emi, Yosuke and Fuyuki – crowded around the coffee table at the top.  
“Oh, good! You came!” Emi said, waving at me.  
“How’s things downstairs? I thought I heard Watanabe freaking out…” Fuyuki asked, and I nodded.  
“I found him out in the restaurant. He said he got locked out of the hotel all night…”  
“Wait,” Yosuke frowned, “So he wasn’t… he wasn’t even in the building when Akiyama…”  
“No,” I shook my head, “If he’s telling the truth, and I think he is.”  
“Well, that complicates things…” He sighed. “Well, all we’ve managed to do is guard this mess.”

I looked at the ‘mess’ in question – it was a half broken coffee mug, the carpet around it stained with brown liquid.  
“You think this had something to do with it?”  
“Hikaru told us,” Emi started, jotting something down in her notebook. “He thinks it was Jirou’s from last night. We thought it’d be a good idea to keep an eye on it, just in case it’s important and someone else tries to clean it up.”  
I didn’t think there was anything remarkable about it… but it was surprising that a coffee mug would break on a carpet, especially at such a short drop from the coffee table. I crouched down, trying to get a better look.

The break was only along the side opposite of the handle, but it was definitely half-shattered. The round base of it was barely intact, with a single crack threatening its integrity. But there were no signs of blood, hair or fabric on any of the broken shards. If this had been used in the murder, why was it so clean?

**Truth Bullet: ‘Broken coffee mug’ acquired!**

“This is confusing…” I said as I straightened up.  
“It really is, but so is the fact that our friend is…” Emi trailed off, her painted lips tightening to a grim line.  
“It’s fine, it’s fine, you don’t have to say anything.” Yosuke soothed her, hand on her shoulder.  
“Well, anything else we can help you with, Hazuki?” Fuyuki asked, looking up at me.

“Have you three seen Hikaru? I wanted to ask him a few questions.”  
“The painter? He’s either holed up in his room or camping out in Ryuu’s. He’s… not taking all this real well.” Yosuke said.  
“I’ll have a look. Thank you.”

I knocked on Ryuu’s door first; it was on the way to Hikaru’s anyway, and would save me having to walk back if he was there.  
I waited a few seconds, until I was surprised by Kaoru opening the door.

“Hey, girl. Looking for Hikaru?”  
I nodded. “Is he here?”  
“He is, just… be real gentle, okay?”

I followed her into the room. Ryuu’s room was… very messy, but at least it didn’t stink. Ryuu was sitting on the far end of the bed, rubbing Hikaru’s shoulders. Hikaru had perched on the ground, far away from the door. I heard his ragged breathing as I approached.  
“Hikaru, honey?” Kaoru called out, her voice softer and kinder than anything I’d ever heard. “Hazuki wants to talk to you for a second…”  
Hikaru sniffed loudly, his head tilting upwards. “I’m, uh, I’m… I’m o-okay, just, just…”  
Ryuu turned back to me. “Take it slow, okay?”

I nodded, walking around to sit beside him.

Poor Hikaru was a mess. His face was blotched with tears, his visible eye completely bloodshot. He trembled from head to toe, curled up like a frightened child.  
Very slowly, I reached out and placed my hand on his. His head shot around to me, but he didn’t run away from me.

“Hikaru,” I started quietly, “I know you don’t want to talk about it. It’s okay to say no, too. But I need to ask more questions about last night, and you’re the only one who might know.”  
His bottom lip shook as he opened his mouth. “W-why-why-why would I know any, anything?”  
“Because you were his friend. You knew him best.”

A tear fell from his eyes. “… I was… I was, and I… I-I didn’t… s-s-see anything. H-he…”  
“Take your time, honey,” Kaoru soothed, her hand on his shoulder.  
Hikaru breathed deeply.  
“… I… was up. I s-stayed, in the l-lobby. Until the, the night-time… bell. Then I c-came, came ups-stairs around… midnight. J-Jirou, he was… he was still, still sitting up a-at the… the coffee table.”  
“Was that normal for him?”  
“No,” Ryuu shook his head. “Jirou was always in his room by ten, and he never came out of it later than that.”  
Hikaru nodded. “He-he wasn’t… acting like, like himself, but he-he had asked me to k-keep watch… So-so I, I told him, that I hadn’t, hadn’t seen W-Watanabe come… come back in. He… He was, was a little… upset? I thought, thought that was, was strange, b-but he told me to go… go, get some sleep. So I… I did.”  
His breath shook again.  
“If I’d… If I’d stay, stayed with him…”  
“Honey you can’t think that,” Kaoru said, but it was no good. The tears had started again.

**Truth Bullet: ‘Hikaru’s Account’ acquired!**

“I’m sorry, Hazuki,” Ryuu said, shaking his head. “I think that’s all you’re going to get out of him right now.”  
“That’s okay. I think that tells me plenty. Thank you for that, Hikaru,” I gave his hand a light squeeze, and he lowered his head further. “I’ll do my best for Jirou.”  
“… Thank you.” Came the soft whisper.

“We’ll keep an eye on him for a while,” Ryuu said. “Make sure he’s okay.”  
“Good idea,” I nodded. I made to stand, but Hikaru suddenly grabbed my hand.  
“Wait, wait please!”  
“Hikaru?”  
His other hand fumbled through his pockets, searching for something desperately. “It’s… it’s… this, here.”

He deposited a small scrap of fabric into my hand. It was grey in colour, with a small white trim.  
“What’s this?”  
“I f-found it… this morning. On… on our way down… to the…”  
“Shh, shh, it’s okay. You don’t have to say it.” Kaoru hushed. Hikaru swallowed.  
“It was, was up h-here,” he whispered, “near the mug… Y-you saw it, right?”  
I nodded. I didn’t know how this would be relevant, but if Hikaru believed it was, I didn’t have the heart to tell him otherwise.

**Truth Bullet: ‘Snapped fabric band’ acquired!**

I pocketed the fabric, and only then did Hikaru let go of my hand. He curled up, letting Ryuu and Kaoru fuss over him.  
I made my way out to the hallway, trying to make sense of everything. I’d found all this evidence, but nothing seemed clear…

“ _HEY!_ ”

I jumped, surprised by Monokitty’s sudden appearance. It stared up at me, a strangely neutral look on his face.  
“How’s my favourite kitten coming along, hm? Found your cold blooded killer yet?”  
“No… I feel like I’m missing something…”  
“Well, well… did you forget a certain something-something? Something-something that might shine a little light on why someone would finally make me meow with joy?”  
I stared down at it. “… Why are you trying to help me?”  
Monokitty froze, emitting a strange electric noise. “Wh-why-I… You’re annoying. Just take this and figure it out, **_you dumb little shit_**.”

It dumped an e-handbook at my feet, and disappeared. I picked it up, pressing the button to light up the screen.

_HOPE’S HUSH RESORT  
GUEST IDENTIFIER_

_GUEST 18  
JIROU AKIYAMA  
ULTIMATE MATHEMATICIAN_

I gasped. Why did it give Jirou’s e-handbook to me!? Was it trying to frame me to help the blackened? Or was it… genuinely giving me a hand?  
I knew what I had to see. I had to know what motive it gave to Jirou yesterday. I navigated the tabs, and what I found… scared me.

**‘If you kill one of the following targets – Michiko Ueda, Shizuka Fujinami, Yuuma Watanabe, or Hikaru Kimihara - you will be granted Monokitty’s Special Immunity.’**

Jirou had been given a pool of targets… for ‘immunity’? I thought about my own motive, how different it was.

**’If you spill first blood, Monokitty will restore all of your lost memories to your brain.’**

It was easy to ignore. I didn’t even know what I’d forgotten; how could I miss it? And even so, it wasn’t worth killing someone.  
But Jirou… his was so much colder. Three of those four people were his closest friends here, and one was his worst enemy. But the prize made no sense… What was ‘special immunity’?

**Truth Bullet: ‘E-Handbook: Motive reminder’ acquired!**

My thoughts were interrupted by the sudden toll of the announcement bell.

“AHEM! It is now time for the class trial! All guests, please gather at the fountain in the main building! Don’t be late, now!”

I realised, with a horrible sick feeling in my stomach… We would all have to step around Jirou’s body on our way out of the hotel. Of course Monokitty would pull something so cruel at the last minute, just to twist the knife.  
I headed downstairs with the others; we moved in small groups, but in a short, silent walk, we all made it to the fountain.

\--

Monokitty appeared before us when we’d finally all arrived, tossing confetti into the air.

“Is everybody ready? I know I am! I’m so excited I could _BURST!_ ”  
We were still silent, horrified by our morning. Monokitty sighed, lowering its arms.  
“Well now, everyone get ready! Watch my little magic trick! _ABRA CAT DABRA_!”

As it announced yet another horrible pun, the fountain began to slowly spin around like a roulette wheel. As the speed rapidly increased, the fountain raised itself up from the floor, revealing an elevator shaft. Monokitty ran around to our side of the fountain, waving its paw.  
“Well, go on! Hop on in!”  
“That… doesn’t look safe,” Suzume said,  
“It’s _PERFECTLY SAFE!_ How many times do I have to say it, I get nothing out of killing you idiots myself!”

Out of all of us, Hikaru was the last person I’d have expected to move first. But he pulled away from Ryuu and Kaoru, heading into the elevator.  
They were quick to follow him. Yuuma went next, pushing past all of us. From then, we moved almost as one, piling into the elevator.  
As unsafe as it looked, it was surprisingly sturdy under our combined weight. Once we were all in place, the doors slammed shut, and we started our descent.

The ride was slower than expected, but none of us found the time to talk. We were all keeping eyes off of each other.  
Because we knew… we were hurtling towards a greater ordeal. Where we couldn’t afford to trust blindly any longer, because that trust had already been shattered. Whatever fate had in store for us at the end of the road… I had to stay hopeful. I had to believe that whatever the outcome here, it would be worth all of the pain and heartbreak.

Because…

Someone in this elevator… was a cold blooded killer.

And it was up to us to bring them to justice.


	6. Chapter 1 - Class Trial: Common Enemies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time. All the evidence has been gathered, and the trial has been called. With the lives of her friends on the line, Hazuki must find the truth... and reveal which of her friends is Jirou's killer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick content warning; this chapter does feature the execution, which contains gore involving animals.

We left the elevator, into a large, circular room. As I took in the decorations, I felt a strange sense of… familiarity.

The walls were painted a pale lilac, accented with dark blues along the edges. When I looked closely at the paint, I discovered small patterns, so faint that they were almost invisible. It was… a sequence of random numbers; fitting for the victim of this case…  
_1851351352518, 1851351352518,_ over and over…

Looking at it was starting to hurt my head. I shook it off, looking back to the main focus of the room.

A set of wooden podiums, arranged in a circle, overseen by a massive, gaudy throne. Green LED lights pulsed along the throne’s edges.  
Monokitty appeared before our group. “Well, here we are! Isn’t it cool!? Don’t answer, I know it is, _NYA-HA-HA!_ Now, all guests please find your places, and the trial will begin!”

We moved forward, everyone reading the plates on the podiums until we found our own place. I found mine quickly – directly opposite from Monokitty.  
If you were to look at our circle from its seat, it would be easy to see everyone’s place. I was at the farthest point. Clockwise from me, it was Yuuma, then Setsuko, Yosuke, Jun, Shizuka, Daisuke, and then an empty podium before Monokitty’s throne. The podium clockwise from that belonged to Ryuu, then Suzume, Emi, Fuyuki, another empty podium, Kaoru, Ai, Keiji, Michiko, Hikaru, and Nana.

Once we were all in place, Monokitty began its announcement.

“Now then, now then! Welcome, one and all, to our very first class trial! Oh, I’m so excited I could cough up a hairball!”  
“Before we begin…” Shizuka said, staring at the empty podium between Fuyuki and Kaoru. There was a sign on that podium… bearing a memorial portrait of Jirou.

“What is the purpose of this?”  
“Hm? Well, it’s very simple, kitten! Just because a guest is deceased, doesn’t mean they can’t participate in all the activities our wonderful resort has to offer! I mean, it’s got as much personality as the real deal did, so it’ll be just like if he was really here!”  
Many of us tensed with anger at the remark.  
“Any other **_dumb questions_**?”  
“I wouldn’t call it dumb,” Ai said, folding her arms, “but what about that one? There was only eighteen of us, but you’ve got a nineteenth podium.”  
“… That’s, uh… that was a logistical error, it’s really not any of your business and not relevant to the trial, moving on.” Monokitty answered, in a rapid ramble that was nearly impossible to comprehend.

“ _NO MORE QUESTIONS!_ It’s time to begin the class trial! Hang on to your butts, it’s going to get crazy up in here! _LET’S GO!_ ”  
Our group steeled itself for what was coming. The evidence of the true killer was there, I just knew it… I only had to make it all click into place.

**\--**

“Let’s begin with a basic explanation of the class trial!” Monokitty announced from its throne.  
“So, the results of the trial all comes down to what you kittens vote. If you can correctly conclude the case’s conniving culprit, then only they will face their punishment. But if you **_screw it up_** and vote for an innocent guest… I’ll punish everyone -besides- the blackened, and they will be free to leave our little paradise without consequence.”  
“And what if we already know the culprit?” Michiko asked.  
“Nyu?” Monokitty tilted its head, surprised by her statement. “Well, I mean, if you all agree one hundred percent to vote right away, then I guess you can be boring and end the trial right now. But only if you all agree!”  
Michiko frowned. “Well, there’s the problem.”  
“Oh sure,” Kaoru looked towards her, twisting part of her ponytail around her fingers. “It’s a ‘problem’ that we’d like, want to find out for sure who killed someone.”

“What did you mean, you’ll punish everyone?” Setsuko asked, cutting off what was about to be a very catty argument.  
“I meant what I said! If you pick the wrong person, everyone but the blackened is punished! And, before some _ANNOYING LITTLE SMART-ASS_ decides to ask what that means…”

The cat’s red eye flickered.

“It’s… **_execution_**.”

I’d never seen so many people freeze up in terror. Even my blood was running cold again.  
“… E-e-execution?” Suzume asked, her eyes impossibly wide.  
“You got it! An execution! Hanging, firing squad, burnt at the stake or thrown off a bridge in a sack of rocks! Doesn’t matter how, all that matters is that the killer is gonna be deader than dead at the end of it!”  
“And if we… get it wrong…” Emi said, “then we… we all die except for them?”  
“Right you are!”

I snuck a look at Michiko. Her face was pale; she now knew the risks behind her accusation.

“So, if we’re _FINALLY DONE BORING ME TO TEARS,_ let the class trial… begin!”

\--

_From here, the story will be written in a script format. This is to allow greater clarity regarding who’s speaking from the cast. Have fun and enjoy!_

\--

**CHAPTER ONE  
CLASS TRIAL**

**COMMENCE!**

KEIJI HARUNO: “Well, if we’re going to find out who did this…”  
KEIJI HARUNO: “Where do we even begin?”  
FUYUKI TAKADA: “Well, I hate to be the one to point this out, but… where the murder took place is a little telling, isn’t it?”  
FUYUKI TAKADA: “Jirou fell – or was pushed, or thrown – from the **second floor landing** , down the stairs to the first floor.”  
EMI IKEDA: “Are you saying someone staying on the first floor did this?”  
FUYUKI TAKADA: “It’s a possibility. It’s just as possible that it was just on the way up to the second floor…”  
SHIZUKA FUJINAMI: “Then the suggestion is meaningless. Stop wasting our time.”  
YOSUKE HARAKAWA: “You don’t have to be a bitch about it. At least he was tryin’!”  
SHIZUKA FUJINAMI: “Do not waste my time insulting me either, vermin.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: _Wait a second… Something doesn’t add up here…_

**Truth bullet: ‘Bloodstains on the Second Floor’ fired! COUNTER!**

HAZUKI SATOU: “Wait, that’s wrong!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Hold on, Fuyuki. I think there’s something wrong with your assumption.”  
FUYUKI TAKADA: “Hm? There is?”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “We all assumed Jirou fell from the second floor landing, down to the first…”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “But there were bloodstains all over that landing. If he only started bleeding when he hit the stairs, why would there be blood on the floor above them?”  
KEIJI HARUNO: “She’s right. The majority of his external blood loss was from the injuries caused by the fall.”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “So Hazuki’s saying… he fell from the third floor first?”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “And then… whoever pushed him in the first place, they went downstairs and pushed him again?”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “That sounds cruel enough to be your work, Watanabe.”  
YUUMA WATANABE: “How many times do I have to tell you, this wasn’t me!”

HAZUKI SATOU: _Michiko is still determined on Yuuma being the killer… I have to convince her otherwise if we’re ever going to move on in this case…_

MICHIKO UEDA: “You can say it all you want, but here’s my perspective.”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “You deceived us all with your little dinner, making us think you were coming around to us…”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “And you used that to get Jirou’s guard down.”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “So you attacked him in **the middle of the night** …”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “And ran off after you did it, because you’re too much of a coward to face your actions!”  
YUUMA WATANABE: “Well, sorry not sorry to break it to you, bitch…”  
YUUMA WATANABE: “But that’s completely wrong! I didn’t do this!”

**Truth Bullet: ‘Yuuma’s Account’ fired! COUNTER!**

HAZUKI SATOU: “Wait, that’s wrong!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “I’m sorry, Michiko, but… Yuuma really can’t have been the killer.”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “Oh really? And why is that?”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Well, if you remember… Yuuma wasn’t in the hotel this morning when we found Jirou’s body.”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “He wasn’t in there because he ran, obviously.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “No, it’s not that. The hotel doors lock at eleven o’clock at night. If Jirou was killed at **one fifteen in the morning** … Yuuma wouldn’t have been inside of the hotel.”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “What!?”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Yuuma, you told me that you were stuck outside the hotel all night, right?”  
YUUMA WATANABE: “That’s right. I was in the restaurant until midnight, trying to clean up.”  
SHIZUKA FUJINAMI: “Why on Earth did it take you nearly four hours to do a few dishes?”  
YUUMA WATANABE: “You should ask the Himura sisters that question.”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “I apologize for that. Suzume and I had a… disagreement.”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “It was an argument, and I still think it was your fault!”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “For the last time, we were in there to clean up, not make more mess…”  
DAISUKE NAGASAKI: “Ladies, can we not do this right now? What’s important is, is Watanabe telling the truth? You two ran out on helping with the cleaning?”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “I’m not proud of it, but yes. Suzume ran off within an hour, and I went after her.”  
EMI IKEDA: “But, hang on a sec… If they were out of the restaurant at half past eight…”  
EMI IKEDA: “Then they can’t confirm whether or not Yuuma really didn’t come back to the hotel before the doors locked…”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Maybe they can’t, but I know someone who can.”  
EMI IKEDA: “Huh? Who’s that?”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “It was…”

_Setsuko/ **Hikaru** /Jun_

HAZUKI SATOU: “This, I’m sure!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Hikaru, you were in the hotel lobby **until midnight** , isn’t that right?”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “Wha-? I-I was… y-yes, I was, was there…”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “And you were watching for Yuuma specifically, weren’t you?”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “W-w-well, yes…”  
JUN MIYAMOTO: “Why were you looking out for him specifically? You two don’t seem especially close…”  
YUUMA WATANABE: “We aren’t. I’m lucky if I can get one word out of him that isn’t completely stuttered.”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “I-I don’t like you either…”  
NANA NAKANO: “Hey, look at that. You just got three.”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “I w-was watching… be, because Jirou asked me to…”  
SHIZUKA FUJINAMI: “Akiyama asked you?”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “Why would he ask you to look for Watanabe?”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “I-I don’t know, know why… He, he wouldn’t s-say…”  
KAORU NAKAJIMA: “Maybe he was just like, still afraid after their fight the other day?”  
YOSUKE HARAKAWA: “Seems weird to ask Kimihara for it, though. No offence.”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “I-I’m good at g-going unnoticed… a-and Jirou and I were, were friends…”  
AI MATTHEWS: “You don’t have to defend yourself, Kimihara. We’re just asking if you saw him.”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “Oh, of c-course, I’m s-sorry… B-but Hazuki is, is right. I s-stayed in, in the lobby… Watanabe n-never came b-back.”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “But that means…”  
RYUUNOSUKE SASAKI: “He’s the only one who can’t possibly be the killer!”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “But… who, then?”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “He was the only one who… who wanted to hurt him. Who _did_ hurt him.”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “So why? Why did one of you do it!?”

HAZUKI SATOU: _She’s shaken… She really doesn’t like being in the dark.  
_HAZUKI SATOU: _But it’s the truth, and we have to find it._

SHIZUKA FUJINAMI: “So we have established that, despite all reason, Watanabe is not responsible.”  
YUUMA WATANABE: “Tch, you’re worse than she is…”  
SHIZUKA FUJINAMI: “But that puts us even further away than we began.”  
YOSUKE HARAKAWA: “Yeah, it really does…”  
JUN MIYAMOTO: “If he was on the third floor so late at night…”  
JUN MIYAMOTO: “ **No one** could have seen anything.”  
KAORU NAKAJIMA: “Yeah, and if it was around one in the morning when he was pushed…”  
KAORU NAKAJIMA: “Then **no one on the second floor** would have seen anything either, you know?”  
HAZUKI SATOU: _That’s not completely true, is it…? There’s definitely **someone** who saw something…_

**Truth Bullet: ‘Nana’s Account’ fired! COUNTER!**

HAZUKI SATOU: “Wait, that’s wrong!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Hold on a second, Kaoru.”  
KAORU NAKAJIMA: “Huh? What’s wrong, sweetie?”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “There actually **is** someone on the second floor who could have seen something.”  
KAORU NAKAJIMA: “Really? I never see anyone.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “She… probably avoids your side, to be honest…”  
NANA NAKANO: “Hmph…!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Nana, you told me you **pace in the hallways** at night, when your insomnia acts up and you can’t sleep.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “And you were up last night, weren’t you?”  
NANA NAKANO: “Gr… Ch-Chouko says I don’t have to tell you if I don’t want to-!”  
KAORU NAKAJIMA: “Nana sweetie, isn’t it really important to tell us this kind of stuff?”  
NANA NAKANO: “Don’t patronize me with your pet-name bullshit! I’ll talk when I wanna talk, and definitely not to a slut like you!”  
KAORU NAKAJIMA: “Ah!?”  
RYUUNOSUKE SASAKI: “The fuck you say to her, you little brat!?”  
NANA NAKANO: “Uh-oh, is the horny DJ upset about the truth? Too bad your brain’s in your-“  
AI MATTHEWS: “Knock it off!”  
KEIJI HARUNO: “This is getting us nowhere… She won’t talk if she doesn’t want to.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Nana… please. They need to hear about what you saw.”  
_Nana sighs heavily, looking down at Chouko in her hands.  
_NANA NAKANO: “I don’t usually see anything interesting. I stick to the back hallway, so nobody bothers me.”  
NANA NAKANO: “There’s only two other doors back there; Setsuko Himura, and Michiko Ueda.”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “I’m not getting why this is important…”  
NANA NAKANO: “Shut up and I’ll tell you!”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Eek! I-I’m sorry!”  
NANA NAKANO: “So, I was pacing around last night… and I heard **footsteps** , just a little before one in the morning.”  
DAISUKE NAGASAKI: “You did?! On your floor or the third?”  
NANA NAKANO: “Now that I think about it… It was **both**.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Huh? Both?”  
NANA NAKANO: “Hihihi~… Surprised, aren’t you? Why don’t you try and figure out why?”  
NANA NAKANO: “How could I have heard footsteps… that were on the second floor **and** the third floor?”

HAZUKI SATOU: _She’s scared, but she’s toying with me… I have to figure this out…_

**HANGMAN’S GAMBIT: BEGIN!**

**S _ _ _ R _**

**S T A I R S**

HAZUKI SATOU: “This is the answer!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “You heard someone going up the stairs, didn’t you?”  
NANA NAKANO: “Hihihi~…”  
FUYUKI TAKADA: “Why couldn’t you just say that?”  
NANA NAKANO: “More fun.”  
DAISUKE NAGASAKI: “You’ve got a pretty twisted idea of fun…”  
NANA NAKANO: “Doesn’t matter. I had time to think about it when I was trying not to throw up.”  
FUYUKI TAKADA: “So you heard someone going upstairs… but you didn’t hear anything else? Like, I don’t know, Jirou being pushed down the stairs?”  
NANA NAKANO: “No… I got scared by the other thing.”  
RYUUNOSUKE SASAKI: “What other thing?”  
NANA NAKANO: “ _Her_ door was open.”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “…”  
NANA NAKANO: “No one ever leaves their door open. But she did, so I got scared she would hear me walking around and ran back to my room.”  
DAISUKE NAGASAKI: “Why would you leave your door open, Setsuko?”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “Is it any of your business? I don’t see how it’s relevant to the case.”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “It is if you’re hiding something.”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “I’m not hiding anything. All I’m saying is, my **door being open** isn’t relevant.”

HAZUKI SATOU: _Wait… there is something important about that fact…_

YUUMA WATANABE: “So you bailed out on helping me, and went back to the hotel…”  
YUUMA WATANABE: “Where you holed up in your room… but left your door open.”  
YUUMA WATANABE: “And you’re trying to tell us that’s not important?”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “Did Jirou pass away in my room?”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “Was his place of death in direct line of sight from my door?”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “There was **nothing about the murder** that my door being open mattered to.”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “So we can move on and stop wasting time, right?”

**Truth Bullet: ‘Soundproof rooms’ fired! COUNTER!**

HAZUKI SATOU: “Wait, that’s wrong!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Setsuko… if your door was open, you would have **heard** the murder taking place.”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “What…?”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Our hotel rooms are **soundproofed**. That’s why even though he was killed right outside our doors, Ai and I didn’t hear a thing.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “But Monokitty confirmed it earlier. You were even there.”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “…I…”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “If you left your door open, you would be able to **hear anything going on** **on our floor.** ”  
YOSUKE HARAKAWA: “So you would have heard Jirou being attacked?”  
YOSUKE HARAKAWA: “And you… didn’t do anything?”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “…”  
JUN MIYAMOTO: “I-I don’t understand… Why?”  
JUN MIYAMOTO: “You had to have heard something going on… Why didn’t you do anything to stop it?”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “…”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Setsuko… please, answer us?”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “… What do you want me to say?”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Huh?”

SETSUKO HIMURA: “Do you want me to confess, now? I can see it in your eyes.”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “You want me to say, you’ve found me out? That it was my doing?”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “You want me to be his killer?”  
KAORU NAKAJIMA: “No one’s saying that! Are they…?”  
AI MATTHEWS: “Well… all we know is, she may have heard it and didn’t react.”  
AI MATTHEWS: “That’s a little… weird, for the Ultimate Bodyguard.”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “Say whatever you want. But here’s the truth.”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “ **I didn’t hear anything.** ”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Wait, what?”

SETSUKO HIMURA: “My door may have been open, but sound doesn’t carry well to that corner of the floor.”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “I didn’t hear anything. No footsteps, no voices. Not even his body hitting the floor.”

HAZUKI SATOU: _We’re getting nowhere with this. She’s too controlled… Something about this isn’t right. I’ll have to try another way…_

RYUUNOSUKE SASAKI: “So, maybe she’s tellin’ us the truth.”  
JUN MIYAMOTO: “It does seem rather strange, but we can’t know if she’s lying or not.”  
EMI IKEDA: “I guess we can’t go check it out, either…”  
DAISUKE NAGASAKI: “There’s just not enough evidence yet…”  
DAISUKE NAGASAKI: “Is there **anything else** we can look for at this point? Maybe without pointing fingers at each other?”  
YOSUKE HARAKAWA: “Man, this is depressing…”  
EMI IKEDA: “Well, how about… when was the last time any of us saw Jirou?”  
DAISUKE NAGASAKI: “He was always in his room early. I didn’t see him.”  
FUYUKI TAKADA: “I didn’t see him either, though I went to my room pretty early myself…”  
EMI IKEDA: “Really? **Nobody** saw him?”

HAZUKI SATOU: _That’s not right either… There was someone who saw him not long before his death…_

**Truth Bullet: ‘Hikaru’s Account’ fired! COUNTER!**

HAZUKI SATOU: “Wait, that’s wrong!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “It was you, wasn’t it Hikaru? You were the one who saw him last, before the murder happened?”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “A-ah…!”  
JUN MIYAMOTO: “That’s right… You were in the lobby until late, looking out for Yuuma.”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “I-I was… And… when I, when I went upstairs… at midnight…”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “Jirou was still, still up… He w-was s-sitting at the coffee t-table… He was… s-surprised, that I, that I came up.”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Was he… normal?”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “Suzume. That’s not polite.”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Sorry…”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “He, he wasn’t… himself. He s-seemed very… paranoid.”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “He was, was also… **holding something**. I w-wasn’t sure where, where he’d g-gotten it…”

HAZUKI SATOU: _Hikaru mentioned seeing something important earlier… Could this be that something he’s talking about?_

**Truth Bullet: ‘Broken coffee mug’ fired! CONSENT!**

HAZUKI SATOU: “You’re right!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “The coffee mug you found on the third floor this morning! That’s what you saw Jirou holding, right?”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “Y-you remembered…”  
NANA NAKANO: “Holy crap, he smiled!”  
EMI IKEDA: “Oh my gosh, how cute!”  
FUYUKI TAKADA: “I think my heart’s about to give out…”  
DAISUKE NAGASAKI: “Back on track, people, back on track.”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “Ah, I’m s-sorry… Yeah, it w-was that mug.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “How long did you stay there to talk to him?”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “Well, it… it was, was probably a-about… ten, fifteen minutes?”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “He k-kept insisting I should, should get some rest… I tried to, tried to ask what he was w-worried about, but he wouldn’t… wouldn’t tell me.”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “Something was definitely worrying him?”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “Y-yeah… to be honest, he’d… he’d been like that all, all d-day. Since…”

HAZUKI SATOU: _Since… it had to be because of…_

**Truth Bullet: ‘E-handbook: Motive Reminder’ selected!**

HAZUKI SATOU: “This, I’m sure!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Do you think he was… upset, because of his motive?”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “His motive?”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Remember? We were all given a unique motive by Monokitty. To try and get us to kill someone…”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Maybe whatever Jirou was given… shook him up enough to make him act so strangely?”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “It’s… possible. B-but we d-don’t know what his m-motive even was…”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Well… that’s not… completely true.”  
_The others gasped at what I said._  
MICHIKO UEDA: “Explain. Now.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “During the investigation… Monokitty gave me Jirou’s e-handbook.”  
MONOKITTY: “Sure did! After all, she was so sweet and polite asking about the soundproof rooms! So I did my little kitten a favour, just this once, nyu-hu!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “I would have told you all sooner, but… the trial was called right after it gave me the handbook. I only had time to look at the motive once myself.”  
KAORU NAKAJIMA: “So… what was his motive?”

_I tapped the screen on the e-handbook, navigating the tabs until I found it. Jirou’s motive for escape._

HAZUKI SATOU: “It says… **‘If you kill one of the following targets – Michiko Ueda, Shizuka Fujinami, Yuuma Watanabe, or Hikaru Kimihara - you will be granted Monokitty’s Special Immunity.** ’”  
_There was an awkward cloud now hanging over our circle. Michiko and Hikaru looked horrified; Yuuma, distinctly uncomfortable. Only Shizuka kept her emotions hidden.  
_MICHIKO UEDA: “He was supposed to kill… one of us?”  
SHIZUKA FUJINAMI: “He may have been given a motive, but do you honestly believe he was capable?”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “I… I don’t know.”  
YUUMA WATANABE: “It _definitely_ explains why he wanted to keep tabs on me.”  
SHIZUKA FUJINAMI: “Do you think he was going to try and kill you, Watanabe?”  
YUUMA WATANABE: “I wouldn’t put it past him. Not with all the steps he took to know where I was.”  
JUN MIYAMOTO: “I’m sorry, but… this doesn’t really change anything, does it?”

JUN MIYAMOTO: “Jirou’s motive doesn’t tell us who would have killed him… And we still can’t share our own motives…”  
AI MATTHEWS: “He’s got a point. We’re just going in circles again.”  
FUYUKI TAKADA: “There has to be something else, right…?”  
YOSUKE HARAKAWA: “I don’t think there is. He was **just sittin’ up late with a cup of coffee** when he died…”  
YOSUKE HARAKAWA: “Nothin’ wrong with that, is there?”  
NANA NAKANO: “I’d say there is. What kind of asshole stays up all night on purpose!?”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “Have s-some respect for the dead…!”

HAZUKI SATOU: _Something’s bothering me about that, though…_

**Truth Bullet: ‘Broken coffee cup’ selected! COUNTER!**

HAZUKI SATOU: “Wait, that’s wrong!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Yosuke, you said something interesting just now…”  
YOSUKE HARAKAWA: “Did I? Well, thanks, I think?”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “You said Jirou was ‘just sitting up late’…”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “But Ryuu and Hikaru both told me that up until last night, Jirou was **never out of his room after ten**.”  
RYUUNOSUKE SASAKI: “That’s right. He was real particular about goin’ to bed the same time every night.”  
EMI IKEDA: “But all of a sudden he wants to stay up late? That’s kinda… weird.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “More than weird… it’s suspicious when you think about the **state** we found the mug in.”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “When it was found this morning, it was broken, right?”  
AI MATTHEWS: “Broken in a pretty weird way, if you ask me.”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “Nobody did.”  
AI MATTHEWS: “Tch… _Anyway_ , the only way the mug could have been broken that way is **on purpose**.”  
YUUMA WATANABE: “Considering who it belonged to, and how it was broken…”  
YUUMA WATANABE: “Could Jirou have been planning to use it as a **weapon**?”

_A shock fell over us. It was… hard, to picture someone like Jirou doing something like that. But we were here because someone else did the same thing._

MICHIKO UEDA: “He… he wouldn’t have. He wasn’t…”  
YUUMA WATANABE: “Wasn’t like me? Or Harakawa, or Matthews? Who’s next on your shit list, Ueda?”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “He was a _pacifist_ , you idiot. He’d never hurt anyone!”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “N-no… He can’t have…”  
KAORU NAKAJIMA: “Hikaru?”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “D-did he really, really… ask me to…”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “He wanted m-me to… keep tabs on… his t-t-target?”

HAZUKI SATOU: “… I know it’s hard to think about…”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “But we’ll never know the true answer. Not since… he’s gone.”  
_It was painful to say, and clearly painful to hear. But we had no choice but to move on…  
_AI MATTHEWS: “Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t…”  
AI MATTHEWS: “But he didn’t use it on his attacker either.”  
FUYUKI TAKADA: “That’s right; maybe it just got broken during a struggle.”  
JUN MIYAMOTO: “But we’re just back in circles again…”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Ugh, this is impossible!”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “There’s **nothing else** we can even look at now!”  
NANA NAKANO: “Chouko says this is all in vain…”  
KEIJI HARUNO: “I… I don’t know…”

**Truth Bullet: ‘Keiji’s Autopsy’ selected!**

HAZUKI SATOU: “Wait, that’s wrong!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Keiji, why don’t we go over your autopsy again? Maybe if we all look together, we can look for something we missed?”  
KEIJI HARUNO: “If that’s what you want to do… To be honest, I’m still not confident in my results…”  
JUN MIYAMOTO: “You did more than any of us could, Keiji… don’t be hard on yourself.”  
KEIJI HARUNO: “I… Thank you, Jun.”  
FUYUKI TAKADA: “So, what can you tell us, Haruno?”  
KEIJI HARUNO: “You all read the initial file, right? Jirou’s death was caused by a combination of blood loss and suffocation.”  
SHIZUKA FUJINAMI: “I did wonder about that second note. I would not normally consider suffocation a risk of falling down stairs.”  
KEIJI HARUNO: “Well… About that.”  
KEIJI HARUNO: “The suffocation wasn’t a mere side effect of his fall. There’s **enough evidence** to suggest that it was **very much intentional**.”  
AI MATTHEWS: “That’s right, you and Hazuki were talking about it in the lobby.”

HAZUKI SATOU: _The evidence I gave to Keiji that let him reach that conclusion… If I remember right, it was…_

**Truth Bullet: ‘Pooled blood on top step’ selected!**

HAZUKI SATOU: “This, I’m sure!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Here, take a look at this.”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “Th-that’s… a lot, lot of blood…”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Kaoru pointed it out to me when I was heading back to the crime scene.”  
KAORU NAKAJIMA: “Hehe, she nearly put her foot right in it. Poor thing.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “She suggested it was too high up to be caused by his wounds from the fall, so I told Keiji about that theory.”  
KEIJI HARUNO: “Combining that information with the **fracture** I felt in Jirou’s throat…”  
KEIJI HARUNO: “And one other thing. Can you remember, Hazuki?”

HAZUKI SATOU: _The other thing… It was…_

**Dirt on Jirou’s neck** /Dirt on Jirou’s nails/Broken bones

HAZUKI SATOU: “This, I’m sure!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “There was **dirt** on the back of Jirou’s head and neck, wasn’t there?”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “Why would he have dirt on the back of his neck?”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Well, because… when you combine all those notes…”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “You have to conclude that the killer **stomped on Jirou’s head** , and forced his throat **into the stair edge.** ” **  
** MICHIKO UEDA: “What!?”  
AI MATTHEWS: “That’s terrible…!”  
KEIJI HARUNO: “They were most likely afraid… that if he cried out for help, they would be caught.”  
KEIJI HARUNO: “Until now, we were unaware of the fact our hotel rooms are soundproofed.”  
KEIJI HARUNO: “So they used a… shockingly vicious method in order to prevent him from doing so.”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “A-ah… Th-th-they…”  
RYUUNOSUKE SASAKI: “Hikaru, hey, calm down and breathe.”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “I-I-I…”  
SHIZUKA FUJINAMI: “Please stop that ridiculous stuttering. It is slowing our progress with this trial.”  
KAORU NAKAJIMA: “Hey, give him a break, okay? What we just heard is like… really scary.”  
SHIZUKA FUJINAMI: “I mourn Akiyama’s death just as much as you do, believe me. But we must not drag this on any longer than necessary.”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “… I… Aah...”  
SHIZUKA FUJINAMI: “See? Quite simple to calm him.”  
RYUUNOSUKE SASAKI: “I wouldn’t call _that_ ‘calm’…”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “I-I’m… s-s-sorry… I’ll j-just, just be quiet…”

KEIJI HARUNO: “If I may proceed…”  
KEIJI HARUNO: “There was only **one other thing** I would call ‘evidence’ on Jirou’s body.”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “What was it?”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Was it a secret note in his pocket? Or maybe a lock of their hair!?”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “Suzume, please.”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “What, so maybe I’m a little wound up? I just want to stop hearing about **random useless junk** …”  
YOSUKE HARAKAWA: “It’s not like you’ve said anything useful this whole time…”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Well what would I say? I don’t know anything about what happened!”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Not to mention, you haven’t said anything useful either!”

**Truth Bullet: ‘Jirou’s Nails’ fired! COUNTER!**

HAZUKI SATOU: “Wait, that’s wrong!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Actually, Suzume… this piece of evidence is very useful.”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Huh? Really?”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Jirou made sure to keep his left hand out of reach of the blood. Keiji noticed, so he examined it closely.”  
KEIJI HARUNO: “That’s right, I did. I showed Hazuki as well.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “If you look closely yourself, you can see it.”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “What is that? It looks icky…”  
EMI IKEDA: “Dirt, maybe?”  
AI MATTHEWS: “Can’t be. Look at the other nails; they’re completely clean.”  
JUN MIYAMOTO: “That’s… not dirt, it’s… it’s…”  
KEIJI HARUNO: “Dried blood, yes.”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Wha-! Disgusting!”  
RYUUNOSUKE SASAKI: “So he got his hand on whoever was killin’ him?”  
KEIJI HARUNO: “That’s my theory.”  
YOSUKE HARAKAWA: “So… we just look for whoever’s got a scratch on them?”

SHIZUKA FUJINAMI: “I am sure it goes without saying…”  
SHIZUKA FUJINAMI: “But I most certainly do not have any scratches.”  
FUYUKI TAKADA: “Flawless, as always.”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “…”  
DAISUKE NAGASAKI: “I got nothing. I’m clean.”  
KAORU NAKAJIMA: “I’ve got a bruise on my shin, but no scratches…”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “I **don’t have any** either!”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “ **Tch…** ”  
YOSUKE HARAKAWA: “I got nothing either. What about the rest of you?”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “Absolutely not.”  
AI MATTHEWS: “Nothing on me…”  
NANA NAKANO: “I’m all clean too…”

**Truth Bullet: ‘Himuras’ Scratches’ fired! COUNTER!**

HAZUKI SATOU: “Wait, that’s wrong!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “I’m sorry… but that’s a lie, isn’t it, Suzume?”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Wha!?”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “You’re hiding it pretty well, but… I saw it when you came to my room last night.”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “What- No! I don’t have anything!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “And you, Setsuko… you have one too.”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “…”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Why are you picking on us!? I thought we were friends!”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “That’s enough, Suzume.”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “!!!”

_Setsuko raised her arm to us, exposing the thin scratch marks on her arm, disappearing into her glove._

SETSUKO HIMURA: “Is that the proof you wanted?”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Setsuko…!”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “Are you confessing now?”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “Is there much point in lying?”  
HAZUKI SATOU: _No… something about this is still wrong. She wouldn’t just… give up, like that.  
_HAZUKI SATOU: “Before we decide that… Can we try something?”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “I don’t know what else you want, Hazuki. It’s obvious at this point, isn’t it?”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Please, it’s important.”  
_Setsuko sighed, folding her arms.  
_SETSUKO HIMURA: “… What is it, then?”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Well… it’s just that your scratches. They’re very thin.”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “What about it?”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “I thought it’d be best to line them up with a **boy’s** nails. Just to make sure.”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “What?”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “What!?”  
DAISUKE NAGASAKI: “I’d volunteer, but… Jirou’s hands were smaller than mine.”  
FUYUKI TAKADA: “I’m stylish, sure, but my hands are bigger than his were too.”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “I… don’t think, think I’m a good m-match either…”  
JUN MIYAMOTO: “I’ll do it.”  
KEIJI HARUNO: “Jun?”  
JUN MIYAMOTO: “Take a look for me; are they the same size as Jirou’s?”

_As Keiji moved over to examine Jun’s hands, I could swear I saw lights sparkling in Emi’s eyes._

KEIJI HARUNO: “… Yes. Yes, you’re a good match. Setsuko, if you’ll allow it?”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “You don’t have to!”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “…”

_Despite Suzume’s protests, Setsuko walked over to them. She held out her scratched arm, and Keiji helped Jun line up his nails with her scratches.  
As I thought… they were far too thin to be from Jirou._

HAZUKI SATOU: “That can’t be right, now can it?”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “It was… at an angle…”  
KEIJI HARUNO: “Not possible. The lines are too straight.”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “What are you trying to pull, Himura?”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “Gh…”  
YOSUKE HARAKAWA: “So… if it wasn’t her… was it…”

_The group’s eyes landed on Suzume. It was then that I noticed… just how panicked she was. Her eyes were wide, and she was covered in sweat. She was trembling as well, staring at me._

HAZUKI SATOU: “Suzume… can you please show us your arm?”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Ngh…! I-I won’t!”  
MICHIKO UEDA: “We’re only going to ask one more time.”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “And I’m only going to say ‘no’ one more time!”  
RYUUNOSUKE SASAKI: “Hey, big sister. Mind if I?”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “Mind if you… what?”  
RYUUNOSUKE SASAKI: “It’s this arm, right?”  
_Ryuu pointed to the arm closest to him. Suzume flinched away, bumping into Emi. Emi took her own initiative, dropping her notebook and pen and grabbing hold of Suzume around her middle.  
_SUZUME HIMURA: “Hey! L-let me go! Let go right now!”  
RYUUNOSUKE SASAKI: “You could make this easier, y’know!”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “GET AWAY FROM HER!”

_Setsuko’s sudden shout had Ryuu and Emi jumping away from Suzume. Suzume, now free to move, took her place on her podium once again. Her face turned red with anger and embarrassment._

SETSUKO HIMURA: “Suzume…”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “So that’s how it is, huh? All’s well and good when you get to do whatever you want, right!?”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “I said I don’t have any scratches on me!”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “And I said I don’t want to show anyone my arm! And if any of you try to force me, it’s gonna be the last straw!”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “Suzume!”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Ah!?”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Your sleeve…”

_Suzume’s eyes shot down to her arm. Beneath the long white sleeve – one that had never been part of her dress before – a small patch of red was appearing.  
Her arm was bleeding._

SUZUME HIMURA: “Aah! Y-y-you did this!”  
RYUUNOSUKE SASAKI: “Sorry, baby sister, but I didn’t lay a hand on you.”  
EMI IKEDA: “And my hands didn’t go near there! So it wasn’t me, either!”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Ngh!”  
HAZUKO SATOU: “Suzume… Why are you bleeding?”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “… Okay, okay, fine!”  
_Suzume suddenly ripped the sleeve up her arm, exposing the aggravated scratches. Almost identical to Setsuko’s, only… these were definitely thicker._

SUZUME HIMURA: “So what, I’ve got a scratch on my arm! It doesn’t mean I did anything!”  
YOSUKE HARAKAWA: “That’s a load of shit…”  
SHIZUKA FUJINAMI: “I admit, I did not see this coming.”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “Stop it, just stop it! She didn’t kill him; I did!”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “See?! She just told you so!”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “I’m taking responsibility, aren’t I? Place the blame on me!”

HAZUKI SATOU: _They’re both frantic… and everyone’s scared… I have to show them the last piece of this puzzle. The one thing that proves which sister is truly responsible…_

**Bullet Time Battle – Setsuko and Suzume Himura – BEGIN!**

SETSUKO HIMURA: “It’s my fault!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: _That’s not true, now is it?_  
SUZUME HIMURA: “I’m innocent!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: _You’re both lying, but why?_  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “I’m the killer!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: _If you did it, the death would be cleaner…_  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Setsuko did this!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: _But this wasn’t the death you planned out, was it?_  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “Blame me, not her!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: _You just want to protect her._  
SUZUME HIMURA: “You’re all bullies!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: _But she couldn’t pull this off without you.  
_HAZUKI SATOU: _Because she left a clue behind._

**Truth Bullet ready: ‘Snapped fabric band’ – FIRED!**

SETSUKO AND SUZUME: “You can’t prove otherwise!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “I don’t think so.”

_As I showed it – the final piece of the puzzle – the confusion of my friends made it somewhat anticlimactic.  
But there was no doubting the recognition in Suzume’s eyes._

HAZUKI SATOU: “This used to be your bracelet, didn’t it, Suzume?”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Th-th-th-that’s-!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Until today, you wore two, identical grey bracelets. Or should I say, until last night, right before you came to hide in my room.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Up until Jirou snapped it, trying to grab hold of you when you pushed him down the hotel stairs.”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “N-n-ngh! No! You’re… you’re wrong!”  
SHIZUKA FUJINAMI: “I would say this evidence is enough, but something still bothers me.”  
SHIZUKA FUJINAMI: “Well, two things, if I am honest. The first is this… why did you try to lie to us?”  
_Her question was directed not at Suzume, but at Setsuko. The elder Himura was shaking, but was it… anger, or fear? I couldn’t say. Both emotions radiated off of her._

SETSUKO HIMURA: “She’s… my sister. I have to… have to protect her. Nothing else matters.”  
RYUUNOSUKE SASAKI: “But… you’d die too, wouldn’t you? If we voted for the wrong person…”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “Nothing. Else. **Matters**.”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “…”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “But I… can’t convince you, can I?”  
_A solemn silence fell over us. Setsuko had dropped her eyes to the floor in front of her. Shizuka, satisfied with her initial answer, proceeded on regardless._

SHIZUKA FUJINAMI: “And my other question, this time to both of you…”  
SHIZUKA FUJINAMI: “Why was Akiyama your victim?”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “…”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Grr…”  
YOSUKE HARAKAWA: “Neither of you had any problem with him, did you?”  
FUYUKI TAKADA: “He was pretty harmless… Maybe that’s all it was?”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “You dumb fuckers don’t know shit!”  
_We reeled from her sudden shout. Suzume, who’d always been bubbly and innocent on the surface, was finally showing us her darker side.  
_SUZUME HIMURA: “You think I _wanted_ to kill that boring ass nerd? As if! I’ve got better things to do with my time than target one of the saddest losers I’ve ever met!”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “You want to know the real truth? The big, shocking secret even Hazuki so-fucking-smart Satou doesn’t even realize?”  
_I tried not to let her words shake me, but the venom in them was so… intense. I still couldn’t believe… how much she really hated me.  
_SUZUME HIMURA: “The reason Jirou died…”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Is because **he got in my way**.”

_… That… that was her reason? Because he was in the way… of something else?_

MICHIKO UEDA: “Are… are you serious?”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “He kept watching the stairs, like the pathetic fucking creep that he was. And he had that cry-baby bitch painter in the lobby too. It ruined everything we planned; how were we supposed to pull it off if there were witnesses all over the place, huh?”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “So I had to wait even longer… Keep an eye out for when they finally left…”  
KAORU NAKAJIMA: “This is… really scary. I don’t like this…”  
FUYUKI TAKADA: “She really has gone off the deep end…”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “You wanted a fucking confession, didn’t you!? Stop fucking interrupting me!”  
AI MATTHEWS: “Oh my god…”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Honestly, you idiots don’t have a single working braincell between you. If you want your goddamn truth, shut your mouths and let me talk!”  
_Silence fell over us again. We were all transfixed by her and her rage. My heart hammered in my chest, and my brain burned. Everything I felt from her… there was so much anger, so much hate…  
_SUZUME HIMURA: “That’s better. Now, where was I…”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “I kept checking, and checking and checking… and he never fucking moved! He actually had the balls to call me out, draw me upstairs…”  
SHIZUKA FUJINAMI: “So he was interfering… with your plan for your true target?”  
EMI IKEDA: “You were after someone else the whole time!?”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Well, duh.”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “It was going to be the easiest murder ever… but of course you all had to fuck it up.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Suzume… who were you after?”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Huh?”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “You killed Jirou for being in your way… who were you really trying to kill?”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Hmph, isn’t it fucking obvious? You really are a stupid whore, aren’t you?”

_Suzume pointed at her target… just to the left of me._

SUZUME HIMURA: “My real target… was him. Yuuma Watanabe.”

_Yuuma went pale. His eyes darted between her and Setsuko, still silent and downcast._

YUUMA WATANABE: “M-me?”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “It would have been so easy… if she would just stop fucking everything up!”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “… So let me get this straight, Suzume.”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Do whatever you want, you bitch.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “I think I know exactly how it happened, now… Let me go over everything, and we’ll have our case completely clear.”

**CLOSING ARGUMENT  
CLIMAX INFERENCE**

**BEGIN!**

HAZUKI SATOU: “I can’t imagine the killer had a solid plan until they received their motive from Monokitty. Whatever prize it offered, it must have been worth it, because they were immediately on board with murder.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “So they did what they always did; they went to Setsuko. She’s the big sister, who they knew would do anything for them, so they asked her to take the fall for them, while they picked out their victim.”  
**Panel: Yuuma Watanabe**  
HAZUKI SATOU: “They ultimately decided… that **Yuuma** was an easy target. Nobody was ever around him, so there were so many perfect opportunities to attack… except for one little thing.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Yuuma had decided to reach out to us one more time by cooking us dinner. The killer didn’t have the chance to get near him for the rest of the day… which gave Setsuko time to have doubts about the plan.”  
**Panel: Dishes to clean**  
HAZUKI SATOU: “The killer had a brilliant idea, however, when Yuuma informed us he’d clean up after dinner. They’d have the perfect opportunity to kill him in the kitchen, so they volunteered to help along with Setsuko.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Of course, they had other plans than dishes. They pretended to start baking instead, even though Yuuma and Setsuko told them it wasn’t the right time.”  
**Panel: Himura argument  
**HAZUKI SATOU: “Setsuko didn’t let it go, and the killer lost their temper. They ran out of the restaurant, Setsuko on their heels. Now the plan needed to adapt again, thanks to the killer this time.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “This is when they realised Hikaru was watching the lobby, and Jirou was watching the upper levels. With two constant witnesses, there was no chance to attack Yuuma when he came back to the hotel.”  
**Panel: Yuuma, Being Nice?  
**HAZUKI SATOU: “Of course, Yuuma had decided to follow through with his initial choice to do the dishes.”  
**Panel: The Spying Himuras  
**HAZUKI SATOU: “So, even though the killer and Setsuko kept a close eye and ear on things, they didn’t have a chance to strike even if the others weren’t there.”  
**Panel: Midnight on the Clock  
**HAZUKI SATOU: “It kept on like this, until finally Hikaru went upstairs. The killer waited for him to leave Jirou alone, and when he was gone, Jirou called them out.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “They went up the stairs to talk with him, both of them in an unstable position. The pair started fighting…”  
**Panel: Jirou’s Fall  
**HAZUKI SATOU: “And whether on purpose, or by accident… the killer sent Jirou tumbling down the stairs, his nails ripping their arm as he tried to catch his balance.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “I’m sure the killer panicked, when they saw he was still alive after the fall. They hurried down to where he was, thinking only of finishing the job.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “First, the killer lined his neck up to the stairs…”  
**Panel: Stomped into the Stairs  
**HAZUKI SATOU: “… and stomped down on his neck until he vomited blood, no longer able to call out for help.”  
**Panel: Jirou’s Second Fall**  
HAZUKI SATOU: “And then the killer pushed him again, rougher than the first time, to the base of the stairs.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “After that, they hurried around to Setsuko’s room. They showed her the scratch on their arm – the evidence of the fight – and Setsuko did her best to replicate it on her own arm to cause confusion.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “And then, the killer snuck back around to my room, playing so scared that I wouldn’t ask any questions…”  
**KILLER CONFIRMATON: SUZUME HIMURA!**  
HAZUKI SATOU: “Did I get that all right, Suzume?”

\--

YUUMA WATANABE: “Holy shit…”  
HIKARU KIMIHARA: “H-h-how… h-how dare, dare you…”  
DAISUKE NAGASAKI: “How could you do something like this, Suzume?”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Oh, like you give a fuck what I do! Now you start caring about anyone else but your precious fucking Hazuki!?”  
_Suzume suddenly flashed a terrifying smile.  
_SUZUME HIMURA: “Ha, imagine how upset you would have been if my original plan was okay, and she let me kill her.”  
HAZUKI SATOU: “What?”  
KAORU NAKAJIMA: “Y-you were… after Hazuki first?”  
DAISUKE NAGASAKI: “What!?”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “…”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “I wanted to, but _someone_ had to get all sappy and like her too much, so we had to pick someone else at the last minute.”  
KEIJI HARUNO: “You keep saying ‘we’… does that mean Setsuko was in on this from the start?”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “OF COURSE SHE WAS! And you know what, that’s why this whole thing screwed up!”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “S-Suzume…?”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Every single time I needed you to do something, you completely fucked it up! You’re completely useless, you hear me!?”  
SETSUKO HIMURA: “Suzume, please…”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “You can’t lie for shit, you can’t clean for shit! You can’t spy for shit! All you’re good for is protecting me, and you’re not even good at that!”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS CONVINCE THEM YOU KILLED HIM! WAS THAT SO FUCKING HARD!?”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “Now they all know it was me! You’re supposed to protect me! This is all your fault!”  
SUZUME HIMURA: “I… I HATE YOU!”

_Setsuko was completely still. She stared at Suzume, her expression shattered with despair._

MONOKITTY: “Ahem, ahem! I think that’s all we need to hear, don’t you kittens?”  
MONOKITTY: “It’s time to start the voting! Choose wisely now; we don’t want any unfortunate accidents, now do we?”  
MONOKITTY: “Who was the brutal first killer? Who killed the Ultimate Mathematician? Cast your votes now!”

\--

There was barely any time between Monokitty’s demand, and all the votes being placed. It had been so thoroughly proven to us…

Suzume had killed Jirou. More than that… she didn’t care.  
She didn’t care that our friend was dead. She didn’t care that she killed him, and she didn’t care her sister would have to die too if she got away with it.  
The only thing that mattered to her was that she got caught.  
How had it taken so long to see how rotten she was? Why did I let myself be so blind to it?

A TV screen appeared, showing an elaborate staging of a slot machine. It spun and spun, showing drawings of our faces over and over… until three of Suzume’s face were in a row. A jackpot poured from the machine, until the walls closed over the screen again.

Monokitty cackled from its throne.  
“NYU-HU! The votes are in! What’s it gonna be, hm? Who did you pick!?”  
It rolled back and forth on its backside, giddy with excitement.  
“The answer is… ding ding ding! You chose correctly; this case’s killer is none other than… Suzume Himura, the Ultimate Baker!”  
Suzume still glared at Setsuko, her teeth gritted in rage. I turned to Setsuko; she was frozen in place, her expression returning to her familiar, stoic look.  
“So callous, so cruel, under that cutesy act! But it was kill or be killed, wasn’t it kitten? If you didn’t push him first, why, it’d be you dead at the base of the stairs!”  
Suzume said nothing. She didn’t care about Monokitty any more, either…

“Suzume…” I started. Her eyes darted to me – the red colour in them glowed in the light of the courtroom.  
“This is all your fault, too…” she growled. “You had to be so… goddamn… nice.”  
“You didn’t have to do this, Suzume…” I said, feeling tears begin to fall from my eyes. “You never had to do any of this.”  
Her anger dulled for just a moment. “You think I didn’t have a good reason? Why don’t I spell it out to you, huh?”  
She took her e-handbook from her pocket, tapping the screen a few times.

“ **If you draw first blood, and convince the other guests that Setsuko Himura was the culprit, both you and your sister will be allowed to leave.** ”

“What!?” Yosuke’s eyes went wide.  
“He was going to spare us both…” Suzume said, a manic smile coming to her lips. “But she had to fuck it up, _again_. Why can’t you just do something right for once…?”

“… I’m sorry.”  
Setsuko’s voice was so small and broken. It sounded… nothing like her. When I turned to her, I felt my tears quicken.  
Even with her stoic expression back in place, Setsuko was so sad. Her limbs were slack, her face numb. She was barely herself.  
“It… was my fault. I should have… been a better sister…”  
“Setsuko, no…” Kaoru began…

But a sudden shift in tone drew us all back to Monokitty.

“Are we all forgetting something, hm? We can’t have a known killer hanging around our lovely resort, now can we…?”  
Suzume’s eyes went wide, her face draining of colour. “Wait- No! No, you promised-!”  
“I promised you’d live if your sister took the fall,” Monokitty grinned, flashing its claws towards her. “But she’s a terrible liar, and so are you.”  
“N-no! Please, have mercy!” Suzume cried out.  
“Now then, we’ve prepared a very special punishment for Suzume Himura, the Ultimate Baker!”  
“No! Stop it, stop it! I’ll do anything, just please don’t kill me!”

**“LET’S GIVE IT EVERYTHING WE’VE GOT! IIIIT’S… PUNISHMENT TIIIIME!”**

I don’t think I’ll ever forget Suzume’s scream, as she made one last, desperate run towards Setsuko.

**\--**

I’ll never forget what it did to her.

A steel collar clamped around her throat from somewhere behind, dragging her forcefully away from her sister’s reach. The chain was merciless, knocking her against wall and floor. When we lost sight of her in the corridor, the TV screens reappeared.

Whatever was about to happen, we were going to have to watch.

Suzume’s dragged path grew smaller and smaller; it looked less like a hallway and more like… some kind of air vent. The chain flung her down a steep drop, and she landed with a violent **THUD!** on a conveyer belt. She pushed herself up to her knees…

And then a title screen, like some kind of old cartoon, flashed on the screen.

**Executed! SUZUME HIMURA  
FOUR AND TWENTY BLACKBIRDS**

Something landed on Suzume’s lap with a disgusting, squelching noise. Her face blanched when she realised what it was; a mutilated blackbird, its blood and guts oozing onto her skirt.  
With several more squelches and splats, hundreds of birds landed on and around her on the conveyer belt as it carried her along to its end. By the time she was there, Suzume was drenched in the birds’ blood, trembling and crying.  
The belt unceremoniously dropped her off the edge. She fell, down, down…

Into a metal pie base, filled with the corpses of blackbirds.

My eyes went wide. It couldn’t possibly be… No one could be that sadistic…

Flames flickered around the room. Suzume tried to gain her footing, to escape from the horrible mess she was in. But the blackbirds weighed her down too much; she had no chance of escape…

Even less, as a robotic arm suddenly clamped a metal lid over the pie base. We couldn’t see her anymore…  
Not until the screen flickered, showing us the growing inferno inside the base. Suzume’s breathing was hurried, panicked.

And just when we thought it couldn’t get worse…

The birds flapped into a frenzied storm. Despite their wounded bodies, they still had life in them, and they wanted to escape their fate. Suzume cried and screamed in terror, her skin pecked and scratched from the frightened birds as the temperature kept rising.

Birds began to fall back to the bottom of the container, finally dead from either blood loss or heat. Suzume was truly struggling to breathe; her body was covered in bleeding cuts, and she held her eye closed as blood dripped from it. The flesh and feathers of the birds around her bubbled and burned, turning from black to bloody red. If I looked closely enough, I saw the skin on Suzume’s neck start to bubble itself; I had to stop focusing on it. But there was nowhere safe to look.  
The screen suddenly turned white with static. Apparently, even that internal camera couldn’t survive the heat.

Our viewpoint was sent back outside, as a perfect pie slid out of an oven, decorated with the image of a beautiful blackbird.  
Until a knife stabbed into it, letting red liquid ooze out.

\--

She… was gone.

Suzume was gone.

I heard a strange sound behind me. I spun around at it, and what I saw… it broke my heart.

Setsuko had fallen to her knees, tears streaming down her face. Her breathing was so rapid, I was worried she was going to die. I hurried over to her, dropping to my knees beside her. I took her hands in mine, just as two other hands, both owned by different people, landed on her shoulders.  
Keiji kneeled opposite me, trying to instruct her to calm down, to breathe before she hurt herself. My ears felt numb; all I could hear was Setsuko’s ragged cries.  
And behind her… it was Yuuma. He held her shoulder tightly, his mouth making the shapes of her name.

She didn’t look at anyone. Her eyes were locked on that screen, the last image of her sister disappearing into static.

I looked at the others. Michiko had her hand over her mouth, her face taking on a sick green. Shizuka had finally reacted, going completely pale and wide-eyed. Hikaru was breathing heavily, his face buried in his hood. Ryuu had Kaoru in his arms, her shoulders shaking with tears. Emi clutched her notebook so tightly I thought she might rip it to pieces.  
I heard someone, somewhere, make dreadful retching noises. I realised what it was, when I saw Nana against a wall, hunched over with a foul puddle in front of her feet.  
Ai’s hands were shaking, one slowly moving towards her pistol until she consciously grabbed it and pushed it away.  
Jun was in tears himself, his hands covering his eyes under his glasses. Yosuke and Fuyuki stood beside each other, shaking in terror.

And Daisuke… Daisuke was limp, staring at the screen just as Setsuko was. His eyes were dull and lifeless, allowing tears to fall without a care.

Monokitty cackled again, its horrible robotic voice snapping me out of my haze. I looked up at it, rolling around on its throne…  
And in that moment, I hated it. I hated that cat more than anything.  
“Wowie, what a way to go! Wasn’t that something, kittens?!”

Setsuko’s breathing slowed.  
“Man, that face when she felt her skin start to melt? _PRICELESS!_ Too bad she was so sour, otherwise I bet that would have been _ONE TASTY PIE!_ ”  
“… You…”

“Nyu?” Monokitty looked down at us.

In a flash, we were flung aside, as if we were nothing. Maybe we were.  
Setsuko advanced on Monokitty’s throne, growling like a feral animal.

“ _NYAAA!”_

Before she reached him, however… Yuuma caught her by the arms, holding her back. She struggled, still wild with despair, but he wouldn’t let her go.  
“YOU DID THIS!” she screamed at the cat. “YOU MADE HER! YOU MADE HER DO THIS!”  
Monokitty tilted its head back and forth, until finally… it laughed at her.

“ ** _You stupid cow_**. **_I didn’t have to do anything._** ”  
“What!?”  
“ ** _Sweet little Suzume… you should have seen her face light up when I told her. All she had to do to escape was make you take the fall… How easy it was going to be! All you had to do was one… tiny… thing. And you failed her._** ”

Setsuko’s rage vanished in an instant.  
“… I… failed her…”  
“ _DAMN STRAIGHT, KITTEN!_ Now she’s dead, and all because you couldn’t protect her from the one thing she had to fear the most… **_Her own sister_**.”  
“That’s… I’m…”  
Yuuma slowly let his grip on her loose. Setsuko dropped to her knees again, sobbing quietly into the floor.  
“It’s… all my fault…”  
“Oh, and for the record… **_I would have killed you anyway_**.”  
Monokitty cackled, disappearing into nothingness once again.

I don’t know how long we stood there. For such a long, terrible moment, we could do nothing for Setsuko’s tears. No matter who spoke to her, who gently touched her arm or shoulder… She wouldn’t look up from her place.  
Slowly, the others began to leave the courtroom. Before I knew it, all that was left was me, Setsuko… and Yuuma.

He had sat next to her, just as silent and passive towards all of us. I took the other side when we were alone. I didn’t know how much more time passed… but I couldn’t let her be alone.  
I took a look at Yuuma, and saw the same resolve in his eyes.

Setsuko slowly raised her head, drawing in a slow breath.  
“… Why are you still here?” she whispered, voice ragged.  
“Setsuko… we’re your friends.” I told her, and she gave me a bitter cough.  
“Friends…? Suzume… was going to kill you both. And I would have… I would have let her. You can’t think I’m your friend after that…”  
“Setsuko,” I took her hand in mine. “We are. Your. Friends. We’re not going to leave you alone, not after… all this.”  
Setsuko closed her eyes. “… And why are you here?”

Yuuma stared forward. “You stopped her, didn’t you.”  
“Yes. She wanted to kill you then, in the restaurant. It would have been easy… to make it look like I did it.”  
“I knew that fight wasn’t just about the baking…” he smirked. “Smarter than I look, you know.”  
“Why are you _here,_ Watanabe?”  
“Because…” he hesitated. “… Because… I’m sorry.”  
Setsuko’s head snapped towards him. “… Excuse me?”  
“I’m… sorry. For your loss. For what it’s worth… I don’t think she meant it, when she… said she hated you.”  
Yuuma turned towards her; I was shocked by how gentle his expression was.

“She loved you, so much that she wanted to make sure you both got out alive. I can’t say I appreciate that she wanted to kill me for it, but… you know.”  
Setsuko sobbed again, lowering her head.  
“… I… I don’t want her to be gone. It should have been me.”  
“I thought the same thing,” Yuuma said quietly, “when I saw Jirou.”

My heart froze.  
“Yuuma-“  
“Don’t make a big deal out of it, Satou,” he rolled his eyes. “We all know everyone else thought it too. It’d serve me right, being such a bastard…”

“No.”

They turned to me, startled by my tone.  
“No one… no one should have died. This… sick Killing Game, it should never have existed in the first place. Jirou should still be here with us; Suzume should still be here with us.”  
“Hazuki…” Setsuko breathed.  
“This is all Monokitty’s fault. That… thing, found Suzume’s only weakness and exploited her. We can’t let it get away with that!”  
“Damn straight,” Yuuma nodded. “You’re not going to take that shit sitting down, are you, Himura?”

Setsuko frowned, her resolve burning once again in her eyes.  
“No. I’m going to make it regret… ever taking my sister from me.”  
I smiled at her. “That’s more like it, don’t you think?”  
She couldn’t smile, not yet. But she nodded to me.

“Now that we’re done being fucking sappy,” Yuuma stood. “Can we get out of this place? It’s giving me the creeps.”  
I stood too, helping Setsuko to her feet. She was still shaken, but she could stand on her own, and that was enough.  
“… I’m… sorry, to make you two wait down here for so long.”  
Her voice was still so… broken. Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around her. Setsuko went still, but in a moment, I felt her hands on my back.

“It’s okay; I don’t mind being there for my friends.”

We left the courtroom together. I believed in Setsuko; she would move past this pain, and turn it into a weapon against our captor.  
Whatever Monokitty could throw at us, we’d throw it right back.

I believed in that.

I believed in… them.

Nothing would take that away from me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that wraps up Chapter One! I hope you enjoyed it; Chapter Two will start pretty soon (I hope!).
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 2.1 - Daily Life: Cardiac Acceleration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the wake of the Class Trial, the guests are granted access to the second floor of the resort building. What lies in wait for them there?

Reality didn’t quite set in until I went back to my room. Now that I was completely alone... the shock coursed through me.  
My throat and chest locked up with pain. My eyes burned, my mouth went dry. I felt my skin break into cold sweat.

Jirou was really dead – his body had disappeared after the trial, all evidence of him cleaned from the hotel as if nothing had ever happened. Monokitty had appeared, explained that it wouldn’t ‘serve the resort’s reputation’ to leave a dead body like that, right where we were staying. There was no chance to pay our respects or say goodbye. He was simply… gone, as if he never existed.  
And Suzume… The image of her, burning up in that pot, flashed in my mind. It was my fault; I’d pointed out all the evidence, condemned her to her fate. I felt bile rising up, threatening to make me sick, and I ran into my bathroom.  
Nothing came up, thankfully. But the sick feeling didn’t stop. I leaned over the sink, staring at myself in the mirror. I was pale, clammy.

“Why did it have to be us?” My reflection asked me.  
“What…?”  
“What did we ever do to deserve something like this…? Why do we have to kill each other? And why do we have to sentence each other to horribly cruel deaths?”  
“We… what did we do…?”  
I blinked.

Jirou and Suzume had appeared by my reflection. The sick feeling intensified at the sight of them.  
Jirou’s limbs were broken, bones poking out of his skin. Blood oozed out of his wounds, out of his mouth. The bruise on his throat was vivid.  
Suzume’s skin was covered in gruesome, bubbling burns along with her scratches from the birds. Her clothes had started to burn away too, and one of her eyes had… burst, in its socket. Was that… why she held it closed?  
“Why did we have to die, Hazuki?” Jirou asked, his words raspy and strangled.  
“Why did you let this happen, Hazuki?” Suzume asked, her blistered hand reaching out to me.

“Hazuki… why didn’t you stop him?” All three of them, in the mirror, asked me.

My vision went dark, and I dropped to the floor, slowly losing consciousness. I didn’t understand what I’d seen…

What were they talking about? _Who_ were they talking about?

Who was I supposed to stop?

\--

**CHAPTER TWO**

**DAILY LIFE: CARDIAC ACCELERATION**

**\--**

I wasn’t exactly… cheerful, waking up on my bathroom floor. My body ached all over. I pushed myself up, barely glancing at the mirror. I didn’t want to see… whatever that was, again.  
I was still wobbly on my feet, so I moved slowly, out of the bathroom towards my bed. I’d left my e-handbook on my bedside table earlier; I grabbed it, tapping the screen impatiently to see the time.

Five-thirty in the morning.

I replaced the handbook, and let myself fall onto my back. I was wide awake, even if I didn’t want to be. But there was nothing for it; the doors were locked until the morning announcements…

… Weren’t they?

The thought struck me suddenly. We only had Monokitty’s word that the doors locked at night. To my knowledge, none of us had ever actually… checked.  
My right knee cracked angrily at me when I stood up, but I ignored the slight pain. I left my room, slowly and quietly. As I closed my door, I listened out for Nana’s footsteps… but I heard nothing.  
I carefully crept down the stairs, making my way towards the hotel doors.

Nothing about them suggested anything was different than in the daytime. I couldn’t even see a lock anywhere on them.  
My heart started to hammer in my chest. I reached out for the handle…

“Hazuki?”

I gasped, spinning around at the sound of my name.  
Hikaru was in the corner again. I hadn’t even seen him there… but I doubt I would have recognized him. He was out of his paint-splattered coat, now dressed in a thin white t-shirt and grey track pants.  
“Oh, Hikaru… What are you doing down here?”  
He blinked at me, half-asleep. “… I-I… I don’t… I don’t know. What a-are you doing, doing down here?”  
I exhaled, calming myself down. Hikaru was harmless; I didn’t have to lie to him.  
“I couldn’t sleep… and then I had a thought, that maybe… maybe the doors don’t actually lock at night. Kind of… silly, huh?”  
Hikaru tilted his head, looking at my hand on the door.  
“… W-want to know a s-secret?”  
“A secret?” I blinked.

Hikaru rose from his armchair, surprisingly fluid and faultless for someone who just woke up. He walked over to me, and placed his finger on my hand.  
He pushed down, and my hand followed.

The door handle moved.

“What…?” I blinked at it. “How did you-“  
“Heh…” Hikaru smiled at me. “Nana’s not… not the only one who, who can’t s-sleep…”  
I stared up at him. I realised, up close, how tired he looked. His eye was still bloodshot from his grief.  
His smile faded away.  
“… I miss them.”  
“Them… Both of them?”  
“She… Suzume w-wasn’t, wasn’t… nice to me. But she… she d-didn’t deserve to, to die so…” His shoulders started to shake.

I took my hand off the door handle, and held his hand instead.

“Hikaru-“  
“What’s going on down here?”

Our heads whipped around to the stairs.  
Apparently, nobody was sleeping tonight – it was Daisuke. His eyes were locked onto us; onto our connected hands.

Hikaru moved away from me, his posture tightening with anxiety.  
“Just, just talking, Nagasaki.”  
“Talking. Right.” Daisuke’s eyes flickered for a second. An unusual emotion I’d never seen on him before.  
I didn’t like it.  
It disappeared, his face shifting back to his normal, easy smile. “Isn’t it a little early to be venturing out, though? The doors are locked anyway…”  
“Yeah, they are,” I said, stepping away from the door. “I just… thought I’d double check, and ran into Hikaru.”  
Hikaru nodded, going along with the lie.

But… why did I lie in the first place? Was it such a bad thing if Daisuke knew about the door, too?

I shook it out of my mind.  
“I should… get back to bed. You two should go, too.”  
Hikaru nodded, but he didn’t move towards the stairs. I doubted he would until Daisuke was gone. I walked slowly, passing him on the stairs.  
Daisuke gently touched my arm on my way past. I stopped, turning to him, but he shook his head. It was strange, but… if he wasn’t going to say anything, there was no point in stopping. So I continued on, heading back to my room.

\--

I spent a long time staring at the ceiling, trying to will myself to sleep, before the morning announcement finally played.

“Good morning, kittens! It is now seven a.m.! Time to rise and shine for another mew-tiful day on our lovely resort!”

Anger burned in my mind at the sound of Monokitty’s voice. I slowly dragged myself out of bed, setting about my morning routine.  
7:21. I was starting to get faster, apparently.

Suddenly, the bells rang again. I looked towards my TV screen as it blinked to life, showing Monokitty’s smug face once again.  
“Oh, and one more thing! I’ve got a very special surprise for you kittens, so please gather at the fountain as soon as possible! Thanks bunches!”

The TV clicked off.  
A special surprise? That couldn’t be anything good… and going back to the fountain, after what had happened beneath it…  
But there was no way I wasn’t going. I had to know what was going on. So, I made my quick way outside.

Too quick.

Like a terrible running gag on a cartoon, I ran straight into someone at my door. Someone much bigger and sturdier than I was, who was tall enough that my nose collided with their chest hard enough to hurt.  
I held my nose in my hand, wincing from the pain. “Ouch… I’m sorry…”

Ryuu sighed, not annoyed but… something else. “Y’re really makin’ a bad habit of hitting people with your face, shorty.”  
I looked up at him. “What are you doing in front of my door anyway, Ryuu?”  
“Checkin’ on ya.” He admitted with a shrug. “Figured you’d be takin’ everything from last night kinda rough.”  
“Thank you, but I’ll be fine.” I said, finally letting go of my face. “Shouldn’t you be more worried about other people?”  
“What, y’think I didn’t check on them already?”  
I blinked. “… Really?”  
He smiled. “Really. C’mon, get a move on. I’m gonna check if Kaoru’s already gone.”  
As he sauntered down the hallway towards Kaoru’s room, I let out a deep sigh.

I really wasn’t the one people should be worried about…  
Ai left her room while I was standing there, giving me a strange look after she’d closed it.  
“Hazuki? What happened to your nose?”  
“Nothing,” I lied. “Are you heading out to the fountain?”  
“Yeah, I am. C’mon, I’ll walk with you.”  
“Okay, okay…” I said, heading towards the stairs.

Ai stayed quiet for most of the walk. She stared at the main building with a serious expression, her brow furrowed in thought.  
“What do you think it’s gonna tell us this time?” she asked quietly.  
“… I don’t know,” I admitted. “I just hope it’s not another killing motive…”  
Ai grunted in agreement. “The less reasons we have to kill each other, the better.”  
My eyes dropped down to the pavement. Reasons to kill each other… how could Monokitty top the last one? That motive had actually pushed Suzume to murder.

The motive had disappeared from my handbook since the trial. The offers were now null and void; whatever lost memories Monokitty was offering me, they were out of my reach now.  
“Do you think we can tell each other our old motives now?” I asked Ai slowly, trying not to spook her.  
She stopped in her path, turning to me.  
Apparently that didn’t work.  
“Hazuki…”  
“It’s just,” I said, rubbing my arms. “… What it offered me. It was… scary.”  
Ai put her hands on her hips. “… Well, since it took it away, I don’t think there’s a problem.”  
“You think so?”  
“I’ll take the risk first,” she said, giving me a confident look. “Monokitty promised me that if I killed Setsuko, I’d go home with enough money to set me up for life.”  
“… It wanted you to kill Setsuko?” I asked.  
“Probably asked a lot of people to kill Setsuko.” Ai shrugged, calmer now that nothing had happened. “That thing has it out for her, since nothing it does shakes her… well, besides…”  
We fell into awkward silence. Monokitty’s execution of Suzume, and the callous speech afterwards, had most certainly gotten under Setsuko’s skin.  
I hadn’t seen her since we came back from the trial. She’d been able to speak, made it to her feet… but I wasn’t sure how ‘okay’ she was.

“So, what did it offer you?” Ai asked, breaking that silence. I hesitated, but… I told her.

“It… offered to restore all of my memories. Everything that I’m missing… including my talent. As long as I made the first kill.”  
Ai’s eyebrows had risen, her eyes wide with surprise. “That’s… a pretty big thing to offer.”  
I tensed up, arms wrapped around myself. “I know. But it’s still not enough for me… to want to kill someone.”  
“Seriously, Hazuki. Are you all right with… knowing you’ve forgotten so much?”  
I couldn’t answer her. I really didn’t know.  
Realising that I didn’t have a response, Ai let out a breath. “Okay, it’s okay. C’mon, we should hurry up before we miss the announcement.”  
She gently tapped my shoulder as she moved on. I followed her, a few steps behind.

\--

By eight, our entire group was by the fountain. Everybody looked exhausted; I guess no one got any sleep after the trial yesterday.  
Monokitty appeared before us, perching itself on the fountain’s edge.  
“Nyu-hu! Good morning, honoured guests! Sheesh, what’s wrong with you guys!? You look worse than usual!”  
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Cut the shit and tell us your stupid ‘surprise’.” Yuuma grumbled, rubbing his temple.  
“Hmph! Polite as always, Mr. Ultimate Cellist! You kittens should be on your knees, thanking me for what I’m about to tell you!”  
“Highly doubtful.” Shizuka huffed.  
“So rude, so rude! After I went to all this work to get everything up and running… You’re all so horrible!”

Monokitty pretended to sob into its paws, stopping to peek and make sure we were convinced. Not that we were, but it was clear we weren’t getting anywhere.  
“All right, all right! Stop cryin’ and tell us!” Yosuke broke first.  
Monokitty stopped. “Oh, fine, whatever. You guys are no fun, you know that? My special surprise to you… is this!”  
As it raised its arms, the massive gate behind it suddenly rose, revealing the stairs and elevator behind it.

“As of today, the second floor is now open to guests! A whole new array of facilities awaits you! Shall we take the tour!?”

We looked to each other, equal parts excited and afraid. What could possibly be up there? Would it increase our quality of life in captivity, or make things that much worse?  
Monokitty lowered its arms with a dramatic sigh.  
“Okay, to be honest, I don’t even need to lead you brats around. _ALL YOU NEED IS A CLUE!_ The facilities on the second floor… are special rooms dedicated to your talents!”  
“Our talents…?” Michiko repeated, her eyebrow raised.  
“Well, some of them.” Monokitty chuckled. “I mean, what could we dedicate to something like being a party guest? What a joke, am I right?”  
Michiko’s hands balled into fists. Her talent was definitely a sore spot for her…

“Let me see…” The robot whipped a piece of paper out of nowhere. “What have we got… Second floor facilities! We’ve got a concert hall, dedicated to our more musically inclined guests! We’ve got a recreation and games room, dedicated to our illustrious billiards man! We’ve got an excellent wardrobe and textiles facility for our stylist and dollmaker! And, I’m sure you brats will love _THIS_ … An infirmary with state-of-the-art medical facilities, for beloved Dr. Haruno!”  
All of that sounded… amazing. Especially an infirmary; if Keiji had somewhere to work, there was a much higher chance of survival.  
My chest hurt as I thought of Jirou. If we’d had the facilities… maybe he would have survived. But then again, we didn’t even know what was happening to him.

Monokitty disposed of the paper, shoving it in its mouth. “ _OKAY, GET GOING!_ I put all that effort it, you _FUCKERS_ better go appreciate it!”  
It jumped into the fountain, disappearing from our sight.  
Our group exchanged looks again.  
“… Is it wrong that I’m kind of like, excited?” Kaoru asked, breaking the silence.  
“It does sound nice,” Michiko conceded. “So why don’t we go have a look? Maybe we can find some clue to escape, too.”

\--

Music played out of speakers on the second floor; some classy jazz number I’d never heard before. The floor layout was much larger than I thought; it was like an entire floor of a shopping mall, large doors leading into the different facilities.  
Michiko had her e-handbook out in a second, bringing up the map. We crowded around her as we examined the layout.  
“So we’re here,” she pointed at the entryway. “So from here… that door on the left leads to the concert hall. The door on the right, that leads to the hallway with the games room and wardrobe facility. Up further, that’s the infirmary, and it looks like there’s an enclosed balcony here.”  
“How shall we explore?” Shizuka asked, straightening her posture. “I feel like we might be too crowded, all in one group.”  
“She’s got a point,” Ryuu nodded, scratching his chin. “From the size there, only the concert hall won’t be cramped with all of us in there.”  
“Then we’ll split up,” Michiko said. “We can divide ourselves up by interest, if you want. Check out first what you want to see the most.”  
“Then I’ll be in the infirmary,” Keiji said, not unexpectedly. “I need to get familiar with everything there if I’m going to make proper use of it.”  
“I’d like to see it, too.” Jun said, quietly. “It’s not far from the balcony, too, and I’d like to see if there are any plants there.”  
“Sign me up for the games room!” Yosuke said, his excitement showing in a massive grin. “I’ve been dyin’ to play some since we got here!”  
“I insist on seeing the concert hall, Michiko,” Shizuka said, a small smile on her lips. “I must check that the acoustics are up to standard.”  
Michiko chuckled at her, not unkindly. “Okay, okay. I want to see that test, though.”

So, it ended up fairly straightforward. Michiko, Shizuka, Ryuu and Yuuma all wanted to see the concert hall. Yosuke wanted nothing more than to play a game of billiards, and roped Ai, Emi and Daisuke into going with him. Fuyuki, Kaoru, Hikaru and Nana agreed to check out the wardrobe, and Keiji, Jun and Setsuko were heading out to the infirmary.  
All that was left was myself.  
I didn’t have anywhere I particularly wanted to see first, so I was content to make my way around alone, seeing the sights on my own time. Michiko had frowned at first, but something was… definitely softer about her today. Maybe she was holding back, since we were all still in shock.

Once everyone had left, I took the time to breathe for a moment before I decided where to go first.

\--

I decided to start at the furthest room, and work my way back.  
I headed down the halls towards the infirmary. The facility had two large doors, decorated with a large pink plus symbol. They opened automatically as I approached, walking in.

The first thing I noticed was how… clean, it smelled. The mixture of cleaning solution, medicine and antiseptic combined into that unique scent hospitals had.  
The walls were stark white, contrasted against black tile floor. I looked around; there was a small sign-in desk and sitting area, leading off into the main infirmary. No receptionist Monokitty appeared as I made my way in.  
It looked more like an Accident and Emergency facility than an infirmary. I counted seven beds in total, separated from each other by curtains. A large desk was at the back of the room, flanked by bookshelves filled with what I assumed were different medical journals. There were fridges full of different coloured bottles and packets there too; beneficial medicines, I hoped.

Keiji was standing by a bookshelf, one of the books in his hands. He scanned the pages quietly, in deep concentration.  
Jun had taken a seat on one of the beds, watching Keiji instead. I made my way over to him, and he gave me a kind smile when he noticed me.  
“Hello, Hazuki. How are you feeling?”  
“A little better, knowing we’ve got something like this now…” I answered quietly.  
“I agree,” Jun nodded. “and I think Keiji’s excited, having somewhere more familiar to him…”  
I looked over at Keiji. He hadn’t looked up from the book at all, even while we were talking about him. Judging by his frown, I wouldn’t have called him excited.  
“Are you… sure?” I asked Jun, quietly. “He looks… kind of concerned.”  
“I didn’t want to bother him,” Jun said, rubbing his arm. “He’s been like that since we got in here… He hasn’t said a word to me.”  
I opened my mouth to speak, but the sound of Keiji snapping his book shut stopped me.

“I’m sorry, I was distracted,” he turned, and blinked. “Ah, Hazuki? When did you get here?”  
“Only about a minute ago,” I gave him a kind smile. “Was that book really interesting?”  
He looked at it for a moment. “I… you could say that. I’d like to wait until we all meet up before I get into too much detail.”  
“Well, what about everything else? Did you guys get a chance to look around?”  
Jun shook his head. “I didn’t want to accidentally break something, so I didn’t get too… hands on.”  
Keiji, on the other hand, nodded. “Monokitty told the truth; this place is state of the art. I’ve only rarely had the chance to work with technology this advanced; I look forward to getting well acquainted with it all.”  
“What about these?” I pointed towards the fridges.  
“The majority of them are very standard; packs for blood transfusions, antibiotics, painkillers. There are a few in there that I… wouldn’t recommend, without good reason. But overall, nothing dangerous if properly administered. I’m going to write up a thorough catalogue, and I’ll check it regularly to make sure nothing gets stolen.”  
I nodded. There was only one more question to ask.

“Didn’t Setsuko come with you two?”  
Jun’s expression turned sad. “She… wanted to be left alone.”  
“She went into the enclosed balcony,” Keiji supplied, seeing my worry. “I know you’re concerned, Hazuki, but… I think she needs the time to herself. Maybe wait until we’re all ready to meet up again to go see her.”  
“Are you sure? She might need someone…”  
“Hazuki,” Keiji said gently, placing a hand on my shoulder. “I understand that you want to help, but she’s been telling several people the same thing all morning. For the sake of her mental health, please, give her the space she’s asking for.”  
“I just… I don’t know…”  
“Put it out of your mind for now, okay?” he said, moving back to the desk. “Maybe check out some of the other facilities instead.”  
I sighed, but I had to agree with him. He was a professional, after all – he could get a good read on Setsuko’s state better than I could.  
“Okay. Will you two check them out as well?”  
“Probably later,” Keiji said, examining the bookshelf again. “I don’t want to get under anybody’s feet.”  
“Me neither,” Jun said, with a soft smile.  
I nodded to them as I moved off to my next destination.

\--

The concert hall had two different entry ways, following a curved hallway to the massive doors. As I passed through those doors, I was hit with the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard.  
I looked over the plush red chairs, down the sloped seating to the massive, half-circle stage.

Shizuka was singing. Her voice carried throughout the hall, echoing beautifully off the walls and ceiling. I was struck dumb, standing in the doorway.  
She really was the Ultimate Diva.  
I felt a tap on my hand, and looked down. Yuuma was sitting near me, in the back row of the hall.  
“Your jaw will lock up if you don’t fix that.” He said with a smirk. I closed my mouth, taking a seat next to him.  
“She’s amazing,” I whispered.  
“Yeah,” Yuuma agreed, “the problem is, she knows that.”  
I giggled softly. “Well, what do you think of the hall, Yuuma?”  
He tilted his head back, closing his eyes. “… Acoustics are great. That’s why I’m up this far; if they’re shit, her voice won’t sound as good when it carries. Easier to tell from a distance.”  
“Will you play us something here?”  
He opened his eyes, giving me a strange look. “… Why?”  
“Well… I did hear you play in the garden, and it sounded really nice. I’d love to see what it’s like in a real concert hall.”

He looked away from me, embarrassed and sullen. “Well… my stuff doesn’t sound good by itself. I’d need someone to play along with, and no one here plays… far as I know.”  
“What do you mean, Yuuma? I just said-“  
“Yeah, well, you’re just being nice again. I’m not doing it.”  
I sighed. There was no reasoning with him. I looked back to Shizuka, still performing. I saw Michiko in the front row, listening intently, but there was no sign of Ryuu. I asked Yuuma where he went.  
“Went backstage, said he was going to check out the systems. I guess a DJ should know a thing or two about A/V tech.”  
“I guess that makes sense…” I said, looking up. I spotted Ryuu on a catwalk above the stage, leaning on the barrier to watch Shizuka’s performance.

It really didn’t seem like there was much else here. At least, nothing I wanted to look at while Shizuka was testing things out. I stood, preparing to leave as quietly as possible.  
“I’ll see you later, Yuuma.”  
“Later, Satou.”

\--

My next stop was the games room.

It was much larger on the inside; I felt it was more like an arcade than anything else. The doorway led up a small flight of stairs, leading to a balcony housing two pool tables, a snack bar, and a crane machine. To the right, a longer flight of stairs led to a collection of arcade cabinets – dance games, skill games, even a few retro models.

I felt strange for a moment. I was sure… I knew someone who would love this place, but I couldn’t remember who.

A cheer drew my attention over to the pool table. It was Emi, celebrating some manner of move Yosuke had pulled off.  
“This is so unfair,” Ai complained, but her smile was wide. “Pitting us against the Ultimate Billiards Player.”  
“What can I say, Matthews,” Yosuke shrugged, resting his cue on his shoulders. “Coin toss just wasn’t in your favour… What _are_ you tryin’ to do, Nagasaki?”  
Daisuke looked up from his attempt to line up a shot. “What? Didn’t I say I’d never done this before?”  
“Yeah, but, c’mon! You’ve been watchin’, right?”  
Daisuke straightened up as I walked over. “Watching you try to cop a feel on these two, sure.”  
“That true, Yosuke?” I asked with a smile. He gave me a wink.  
“Hands-on teachin’ is the best kind, if you ask me.”  
“Then maybe you should give Nagasaki a few pointers,” Ai challenged. Yosuke didn’t even blink; he sauntered around the table, coming up to Daisuke’s left.

“What do you say, man?”  
Daisuke laughed, suddenly very flustered. “I-In front of all these girls?”  
“Please,” Emi said with a smile, “Don’t mind us at all!”  
“Hey, if he’s not comfortable with it,” Yosuke said, backing off. “He can stay shitty at pool until you all take off.”  
“Oooh, private lessons?” Emi whipped her notebook out of nowhere, jotting something down.  
“Hey, hey, no, stop that,” Daisuke pointed at her, but she was already gone.  
“How’s everything in here?” I asked, trying to draw some of the attention off of Daisuke.

“Pretty cool, actually. The bar’s stocked up just like the restaurant, so we’ve got another place for food. All the machines downstairs run on tokens, though, but I’m gonna guess Monokitty has an idea about that.” Ai explained, lining up a shot of her own.  
“There’s one more thing, though. I’ll show you.” Daisuke said, replacing his pool cue.  
“Aw, come on! How am I supposed to win against both of them!?”  
“You’ll figure it out. C’mon, Hazuki.”

I followed Daisuke downstairs, past the arcade cabinets. There was a door at the back, and next to it was a shelf full of oversized headphones and sturdy-looking glasses.  
Daisuke picked a set of headphones up, putting them carefully over my ears. I couldn’t hear a thing with them on; I’d stopped hearing the sounds from above while Ai was mid-rant. Daisuke passed a pair of glasses to me too, before putting on his own equipment.  
A red light above the door turned green as he put his handbook over a plastic square next to it.

Behind the door was… a shooting range.

I felt immediately nervous in there. Daisuke led me by the hand to one of the booths. Unable to hear past the headphones, he pointed the details out to me.  
The booth dispensed the chosen gun to you from a button press. The options were Handgun, Rifle, Shotgun, and a final option reading Experts Only. On the range were a number of targets, all painted to look like terrified human beings… and smaller targets resembling chickens.  
I shook my head, pulling Daisuke back towards the door.

“Wh-why didn’t Monokitty say there was something like this?” I asked, once we’d returned the equipment outside.  
“My guess, it wanted to scare us one by one. Are you all right? You went really pale there…” Daisuke gently held my shoulder. I leaned against him, resting my head on his arm.  
“I… I didn’t feel right in there. It was scary…”  
“Ah. I’m sorry… I didn’t know.”  
“It’s okay. Thanks for showing me, anyway.” I straightened up, stepping away from him. He gave me a strange, soft look.  
“… Hazuki…”  
“Hm?” I blinked at him.  
“… It’s… No, never mind. Don’t worry about it.” He shook his head. “I’m gonna head back up. Maybe I can salvage that game before Ai gets mad for real.”

As he headed up the stairs, I took a little longer to examine the lower floor. There were benches by one of the dance games, so I sat down and took another breather.  
Why was I so afraid of the shooting range…? I’d never been to one before, or even really been around guns… but my body had felt so sick inside that room.  
I blinked, and nearly screamed when Monokitty appeared before me.  
“Nyu-hu-hu! You look pale, kitten!”  
“What are you doing here?” I whispered.  
“Nothing really. Just enjoying the show! Nyu-hu, still getting frisky with the blog boy again, are we? Here I thought you were moving on to more… delicate figures.”  
My face turned red. There was… so much to unpack, in those words.  
“Excuse me?!”  
“Well, let me count! First you’re holding hands with blog boy, then cuddling up to the bitchy little baker at night! Oh, and don’t think I missed the dollmaker hanging off of your arm, too! Arms around the bodyguard bitch, next! And last but not least, that secretly sexy painter fella! _WHEW,_ doesn’t he clean up nice out of that nasty old coat?!”  
I blushed even harder on the last. It… admittedly, did have a point; I was surprised by Hikaru’s figure… Wait, no!  
“I’m not- what are you trying to-“  
Monokitty cackled. “ _HOLY CRAP, KITTEN, YOU SHOULD SEE YOUR FACE! WE SHOULD REVISE YOUR NOTES TO ULTIMATE GIRLFRIEND, HUH!_ ”  
“Leave me alone!”  
“Nyaw, did I hit a nerve, kitten?” Monokitty winked. “Don’t worry, _I_ won’t tell anyone your dirty secrets. Though, honestly, you’re about as subtle as a red light district! _NYA-HA-HA_!”  
It disappeared as quick as it had appeared. From above me, I heard a voice.  
“Hazuki? Are you okay?” It was Emi.  
“I’m… I’m fine, thanks! Just… tired…”

I stood up, heading back up the stairs. Emi gave me a weird smile as I left the room, waving goodbye to the rest.  
Did she hear all of that from Monokitty…? The last thing I wanted right now was the Ultimate Matchmaker getting _more_ ideas.

\--

The last place to check was just across the hall; the wardrobe.

I was surprised Nana agreed to go in at the same time as Kaoru. But there was no sign of chaos as I opened the door.  
The floor layout was similar to the games room; a small staircase leading up to a balcony, with a longer staircase leading down to a larger area.  
The upper floor had what I assumed was a styling area; there was a raised square before a semicircle of mirrors, with a small clotheshorse nearby. Next to that, there were a series of chairs before smaller mirrors – an area for make-up application.  
Downstairs, there were rows upon rows of different clothes, all in different styles. Casual, business, eveningwear, costumes… it was incredibly well-stocked.

I assumed the others were either downstairs, or had already left to check out the other rooms. I slowly went downstairs, looking down the rows.  
I saw Kaoru close to the back, crouched down in front of a chest of drawers.  
“Kaoru?” I called out, and she turned and waved me over.  
“Hey, girl,” she smiled at me. “Checked everything out yet?”  
I nodded. “There’s a bit more to the games room than Monokitty told us…”  
Kaoru tilted her head. “Really?”  
“There’s, um… a shooting range.”  
“Like… real shooting? Like what Ai does?” she looked curious. I nodded.

Kaoru turned back to the drawers she was examining. “Well, there’s nothing really special about this place; it’s well stocked and all, but there’s no big surprises or anything…”  
“Weren’t there a few others here with you?” I looked around; they hadn’t been upstairs, and there was no sign of them down here either.  
“Yeah,” Kaoru stood up, arching her back before she straightened up. “Fuyuki was like, suddenly super intense about getting Hikaru to wear something clean, and Hikaru just took off. Pretty sure Fuyuki went chasing him.”  
“What about Nana? Where is she?”  
Kaoru turned to me. Her expression turned completely flat with annoyance.  
“See that rack next to you?”

I turned to my left. “This one?”  
“Pull apart that blue jacket and the black one.”  
I did as she asked…  
And found Nana curled up within. She stared at me with bug eyes, her arms full of a maroon velvet cloak.  
“… What are you-“

Before I could finish, she hissed at me. I was so startled that I let go of the coats, and Nana took the chance to jump out and skitter off out of sight  
I was beyond confused, so I turned back to Kaoru.

“She’s been doing that ever since we got here,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Whatever problem she like, has with me? She’s not even using words now.”  
I heard the taps of Nana’s feet as she hunted around for a new hiding spot.  
“Well… maybe she’s still frightened after…”  
I lost my will to speak as I remembered it. Kaoru’s annoyed look shifted into concern.  
“… Are _you_ okay after all that?” she asked. I looked away, completely thrown.  
“… I-I don’t know. What happened yesterday… I never want to have to do that again.”  
“Well,” Kaoru shifted on the spot. “Maybe now that everyone knows like… what happens if they get caught? Maybe we won’t have to.”  
I wanted to believe her… but I’d believed no one would ever commit murder in the first place. Instead, I just gave her a kind smile.

“Well, I… I might get going. I don’t want to get under anyone’s feet when Fuyuki comes back…”  
Kaoru opened her mouth, but hesitated. She sighed softly, looking at me with a soft pout.  
“Okay, sure. Just… don’t forget us if like, you want someone to talk to.”  
I nodded to her. I took one quick look around before I left; Nana peered out in Kaoru’s direction from a row of gowns, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.  
One day, I’d have to stop being surprised and start asking why. But not now; for now, I headed for the stairs, intending to make my way out.

But before I left… I turned to the mirror, wondering how tired I really looked. I barely paid attention to it as I made my way over. But when I looked up…

My heart skipped a beat, and my breath caught in my throat.

Suzume’s image was staring at me instead, from every mirror. Despite her burns, she smiled at me sweetly, rocking back and forth on her feet. Her good eye trailed up and down my form, and she laughed.

“You look like shit.”

Panic overtook my brain; my breathing grew rapid, and I tried to step back from the mirrors. I completely forgot about the square stand behind me; I tripped over it, falling backwards.  
I landed on my backside with a loud thud. I tore my eyes from the mirror, instead looking down at my legs.  
My heartbeat hammered in my ears. I didn’t even hear the doors, or the footsteps on the stairs.

I barely heard my name, when Fuyuki and Hikaru called out to me.

I only realised anyone was there when I felt their hands on my shoulders.  
“Hazuki, what happened?” Fuyuki asked me. “Are you all right?”  
“Y-you look pale…” Hikaru said, putting his hand under my elbow to help me to my feet.  
“I… I’m fine.” I shook my head.  
“Hey, what’s going on?” Kaoru appeared at the top of the stairs. “You left for like, five seconds… What happened?”  
“I just… I tripped, that’s all.” I took a glance at the mirror. Suzume’s image had vanished; all I saw was myself, white as a sheet, supported by my friends. They didn’t look convinced by my lie, but no one tried to press me for answers.  
“Well, nonetheless,” Fuyuki said slowly, letting my shoulder go. “It’s time for us to gather up. Is Nana still in here?”  
“She’s downstairs,” Kaoru said, folding her arms. “She thinks if she hides in the clothes, I’ll forget she’s down there or something.”  
Fuyuki sighed dramatically, rubbing his temple. “Well, I’m sure she’ll wander out once we go… Come on. Are you all right to walk, Hazuki?”  
“I’m fine,” I nodded. I looked up at Hikaru; his hand still rested on my shoulder. His worry was plain on his face, but he slowly let me go.  
“As long as you’re sure,” Kaoru said. “Let’s go before Michiko gets pissed off.”

\--

Our group met again by the entrance.  
“Are you okay, Hazuki?” Emi asked, as soon as we arrived. “You look awfully pale…”  
“I’m fine,” I insisted. “I think I just… need to eat something.”  
“Well, once we finish up here, we can see about breakfast.” Daisuke said, stretching his arms above his head.  
I hadn’t forgotten his strange attitude from last night. He’d never looked so threatening before… and especially towards someone as harmless as Hikaru.

“Hold on, we’re missing some people.” Michiko said. “Where’s Himura and Haruno?”  
“Keiji was in the middle of cataloguing the medicines in the infirmary,” Jun explained. “He didn’t want to leave it half-finished just in case…”  
“That’s fair enough,” Michiko nodded, “and what about Himura? She was with you two, wasn’t she?”  
“Ah, about that…” Jun fidgeted on the spot. “… She’s missing.”  
“What!?” I asked.  
“What do you mean, she’s missing?” Daisuke asked, his words overlapping mine.  
“Well… she did come to the infirmary with us, at first,” Jun said, uncomfortable under all of our eyes. “But she told us she wanted to be alone, so she was going to the balcony nearby. Keiji said to let her have her space, so I didn’t bother her… But when I came out of the infirmary to meet you all, she… she was gone.”  
“But why?” Emi asked. “Where would she go?”  
“She did not go into the concert hall,” Shizuka supplied. “I was the last to leave it, and not very long ago.”  
“Didn’t see her in the wardrobe, either,” Nana said, arms folded.  
“Did anyone see her in the games room?” I asked. All four of them – Daisuke, Emi, Yosuke and Ai – shook their heads.  
Where would she have gone…?

“All right,” Michiko said. “New plan. Put the meeting on hold until we find Himura. Split up and look everywhere, even outside.”

\--

I started my search in the last place anyone had seen Setsuko; the balcony garden.

It was so different from the island outside. The plants thrived here; lush green leaves and beautiful flowers, with the scent of morning grass in the air. I walked slowly through it, careful not to touch anything.  
I didn’t trust Monokitty not to secretly put poisonous plants in here.

When I reached the far end of the balcony, I looked all around…

And found Setsuko, lying on the floor.

“Setsuko!?”  
Her eyes were closed, her hands clasped over her stomach. I was ready to run and get the others, fearing the worst, but then I saw it. The slow rise and fall of her chest that signified her breathing.  
She wasn’t dead; she was just… resting.  
I sat down next to her, gently jostling her shoulder. Her eyes opened slowly, and she looked at me with no expression.  
“… Hazuki? What are you doing here?” She slowly sat up. She looked away from me, staring forward towards the wall.  
“I was looking for you. Jun said he couldn’t find you, so we were all worried.”  
Setsuko blinked. “… Why?”  
“Why? Because what if something happened to you? You’re our friend, of course we’d worry!”

She sighed, closing her eyes.  
“Of course… Look, nothing’s happened to me, all right? You can go tell them I’m fine.”  
“But, you should come with me… After all, we’re supposed to meet up and talk about what we’ve found.”  
“Well, I didn’t _find_ anything,” she snapped at me. “So there’s no point in me going, is there?”  
I flinched away from her. “Setsuko…”  
She turned to me then, and I saw her pain so clearly. Her eyes were watering, her mouth tightened to a thin line.  
“Please, Hazuki,” she begged. “Please, go.”

I didn’t know what to say, or even what to do. Setsuko rubbed her arm over her eyes, clearing away the threat of tears.  
“Setsuko…” I reached out, placing my hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to-“  
“Don’t start,” she knocked my hand away. “Just leave me alone. Run off with the others and forget about us.”  
Us.  
“You think they’ve forgotten about it? About Jirou and Suzume…”  
“I don’t _think_ anything. That… thing, gives them a few new toys to play with, and suddenly no one cares my sister was boiled alive.”  
My stomach tightened at the memory once again. I swallowed the urge to vomit.  
“Nobody’s forgotten about that…”  
“They’re certainly ignoring it.” Setsuko scoffed. “Am I supposed to pretend nothing’s wrong too?”  
“Setsuko… what we saw was… it was terrible. Can you blame everyone for wanting to think about anything else?”

That… was not the right thing to say. Setsuko’s face contorted with anger.  
“Get away from me.”  
“Setsuko-“  
“I said get away from me!” she leapt to her feet, taking off at a sprint towards the door.  
“Setsuko, wait!”  
I heard the door slam shut. I felt like an idiot as I got to my feet, dusting myself off. Of course she wanted us to remember, to care about what happened… How much of it was she still blaming herself for?  
I hurried out of the balcony. Maybe I could catch up to her, apologise…

Keiji was standing outside of the door, arms folded.  
“I told you she wanted to be left alone.”  
“But… we needed her to come meet with us,” I said, knowing it was a weak excuse. “Michiko told us to find her…”  
Keiji sighed, closing his eyes. “I understand. What happened?”  
“She’s… she’s angry. That we’re… we’re not taking what happened to Jirou and Suzume seriously.”  
“Well, to be fair… Are we?”

I froze. Keiji gave me a determined look.  
“We were swept up in the excitement of these facilities. I’m guilty of it, myself. I’m not a psychologist, but I believe that for Setsuko, there is nothing that can soften what happened; she’s deep in shock right now.”  
I looked away from him, embarrassed. “… I understand…”  
“I know you were only trying to be kind,” he said, gently placing his hand on my shoulder. “She’ll understand in time.”  
“I don’t think she will,” I admitted, “I didn’t really… think how she must be feeling.”  
“Losing a loved one is a terribly painful experience,” Keiji said, his voice lowering. “In a perfect world, no one would have to go through it.”

I looked up when I heard footsteps. Michiko approached us, a displeased look on her face.  
“What did you do?” she asked me, quietly.  
“What?”  
“Himura sprinted past us in tears; she knocked Takada _and_ Watanabe over to get to the stairs. Since Haruno was in the infirmary, I assume whatever happened was between you and her.”  
“I… I didn’t mean…”  
Michiko frowned at me. “I’m waiting.”  
“Michiko,” Keiji scolded, “it was a misunderstanding between them, nothing else.”  
She raised her eyebrow at him, but to my surprise, she didn’t cut back.  
“… Fine. But you better sort it out, understand? The last thing we need is her going crazy.”  
I nodded.  
“Okay, well, now that we know she’s definitely not going to come to the meet-up,” Michiko said, folding her arms. All business, once again.  
“Haruno, are you done in the infirmary?”  
Keiji nodded. “I’m sorry to keep everyone waiting, but I felt it was for the best. I’ll explain when we’re all together.”

\--

It didn’t take long to re-join the group. Fuyuki was rubbing his shoulder with a pained expression.  
“Are you okay?” I asked quietly. He smiled, or at least made the attempt.  
“I’ll survive, don’t you worry. Just… didn’t really see her coming.”  
“I’m sorry… it’s my fault; I said something to her that I really shouldn’t have.”  
“You?” Yuuma asked, sitting against the wall. “You did that?”  
I nodded. I felt terrible; I wanted to run off and find her, to apologise, but Keiji told me to give her space.  
“Wow,” he said. “Didn’t see that coming either.”  
“Are we going to go on without Himura?” Shizuka asked, looking up at Michiko.  
“That’s right,” Michiko nodded. “She’s not in any state to talk, so we’ll just have to leave her for now. So, we all checked out the different parts of the floor. We’ll start with the wardrobe.”  
“Well, it’s very well stocked,” Fuyuki started. “It’s got an incredible range of styles. Casual wear, formalwear, even theatre costumes.”  
“It goes into like, accessories and shoes too,” Kaoru continued. “Nothing’s brand name, but it’s all like, really high quality.”  
“How high?” Shizuka asked, her eyes sparkling with intrigue.  
“Well, I mean… hard to say exactly.” Kaoru shrugged. Nana let out a deep, irritated sigh.  
“I found a gown that looks like Fujinami. One hundred percent charmeuse silk in midnight blue, silver thread embroidery and lace trim.”  
I had… no idea what ‘charmeuse’ was, but Shizuka gasped when she said it, so I guessed it must have been expensive, fancy, or both.  
“It might look like her,” Fuyuki interjected. “But I’d suggest letting me decide if it suits her.”

The stare Shizuka gave him could melt steel.

“Whatever,” Nana shrugged. “It was the same colour as her hair.”  
“There’s a door at the back of it,” Kaoru said, “but I couldn’t get it open.”  
“N-none of us could, could get it open…” Hikaru said. “M-maybe it’s locked…”  
“I could get in,” Ai said. “But if it’s locked, Monokitty might not want us in there. Maybe Hazuki could ask about it.”  
I bit my thumb nail. I really didn’t want to suck up to that horrible cat again…  
“Or not,” Ai said, putting her hands up. “It’s probably nothing anyway.”  
“So that’s the wardrobe,” Michiko said, flipping her hair. “Games room?”

“Way bigger than I thought,” Yosuke said. “But the tables are _so nice_!”  
“There’s a snack bar up top,” Emi said, making the shape of the balcony with her hands. “And then downstairs, there’s a bunch of arcade cabinets and other games! Most of them are token based, so we can’t really use them right now, but they’re pretty neat!”  
“Nagasaki and I found a shooting range on the lower level too,” Ai said. “Small, but not bad. The targets are kinda tasteless, though.”  
“Only ‘kinda’? They look like innocent people…” Daisuke said, tensing up.  
“It’s not totally unusual to have humanoid targets on a range. They just don’t usually, y’know… look that scared. Or have that much detail.”  
Michiko grunted in disgust. “Well, we’ll have to keep close tabs on that place if it has more guns in it. As for the concert hall, it’s pretty straightforward. The sound’s good; Shizuka’s test was beautiful.”

Shizuka smiled. Michiko seemed to double-take on her own phrasing, clearing her throat.  
“Sasaki, you went up to the catwalks, right?”  
“Sure did, boss,” Ryuu said. “Checked out the tech up there. High quality stuff too, but it’s like Kaoru said ‘bout the clothes in the wardrobe; nothing brand name. All of it just said ‘Monotech’.”  
“Isn’t that familiar?” Yuuma asked. We gave him a series of confused looks, to which he sighed and rolled his eyes.  
“Our e-handbooks. They’re Monotech.”  
Daisuke pulled his out of his jacket. He examined the back of it, and his eyebrows popped up in surprise.  
“Well, what do you know? It is.”  
“So Monokitty – or whoever made it – makes everything on this resort?” Jun asked.  
“We might have to start looking more closely,” Michiko said, narrowing her eyes. “Well, last but not least. Haruno, the infirmary?”

Keiji nodded.  
“Completely stocked with first aid equipment and medicine. Seven beds, so there’s plenty of space if anyone needs treatment. However, there was something in there that… doesn’t make any sense to me.”  
“What was it?” Emi asked.  
“Well, there was a collection of medical journals at the back of the room. When I took a look at them, however… I recognise them perfectly.”  
“So, what, they’re like, standard stuff?” Kaoru blinked.  
“No, not that. I recognise them because, well… I wrote them.”

The group was simultaneously shocked.  
“You… wrote them?” Michiko repeated.  
“How could they have journals you wrote?” Yosuke asked, scratching his head. “Did they take ‘em off you when you got here?”  
“No,” Keiji shook his head. “I didn’t bring these with me.”  
“That’s… really creepy.” Emi said. Keiji nodded in agreement.  
“Are they dangerous in any way?” Michiko asked.  
“I wouldn’t say so, but I could always be wrong. There were no particularly elaborate diagrams, or information on dangerous medicines. It was less of a medical journal, more of a… personal one.”  
Michiko sighed. “Then just take them out of there, put them in your room. It’s really not that complicated.”  
“Well, that’s true, but I thought you all should know about it. Other than that, there was nothing unusual about the infirmary.”

“Then we’re done here. Unless Monokitty has any more announcements for us, I guess we can just… do whatever for today.” Michiko waved her hand.  
“Well I don’t know about the rest of you,” Daisuke said, “But me? I’m starving. I’m gonna make breakfast.”  
My stomach chose that as the perfect moment to growl in rage. I turned red as everyone looked at me.  
“All right, that’s a second.” Daisuke smiled. “C’mon, I’ll treat you.”  
“You’ll treat _us_ ,” Ai said, putting her arm around my shoulders. “You owe me after you bailed out on the most important shot of the game.”  
Daisuke threw his hands up, making a distressed noise, but it was settled; Ai was accompanying us to breakfast. I decided to keep an eye out for Setsuko on our way; even if I said nothing to her, I had to know if she was all right…

\--

In the end, however, there was no sign of her between the main building and the restaurant. Ai ruffled my hair when she figured out what I was doing.

The two of us had a seat outside, seeing as the weather was nice. Daisuke went inside the restaurant on the promise of ‘whatever I make, it’s going to be good’.  
Ai stretched in her chair, sighing softly. She checked the time on her handbook, and whistled.  
“Hell, that took forever; it’s already one in the afternoon. Nagasaki may as well be making us lunch at this point.”  
I laughed a little. “Well, we did have a lot of ground to cover…”  
Ai sent me a crooked smile. “Most of us just picked one place and stayed there. I bet everyone’s just going to wander around it today, get a feel for the whole layout.”  
“What about you?” I asked. “Will you try the range out?”  
Her smile straightened up, more serious but still friendly. “Yeah, I think I’d better. Heard what kind of guns are available in there; Haruno said he made a ‘catalogue’ of the stuff in the infirmary, so maybe I could do that with the firearms. Make sure nothing goes missing.”  
“That’d make things a lot easier, having a list…”  
“I’m pretty curious, though,” Ai rubbed her chin. “Nagasaki told me about a setting in there, ‘Experts Only’? Don’t know what that means, but I think it’s for the best no one touches it.”  
“Not even you?” I joked. Ai did laugh, but she shook her head.  
“I’ll check it once, for the inventory. But no, not even me.”

She looked out on the horizon, to the calm blue sea.  
“Having a range at all is bad enough, y’know? I don’t wanna think bad of anyone, but the fact that there’s a variety of firearms anyone can just… waltz in and take, it’s kinda scary.”  
“Well… maybe nobody would…”  
She gave me a sympathetic look. “That’s what we said before, and look what happened.”  
My shoulders drooped. “Well, even, even so…”  
Ai reached out, patting my hand. “Look, I know. I know you want everyone to be nice and get along. But… look, maybe seeing what happened to Himura will keep a murder from happening again. But I just… don’t want you to get your hopes up by saying it won’t.”  
I felt hollow. Hadn’t Jirou said the same thing? Don’t get your hopes up?

But what was the point of surviving this if I didn’t hope for the best?

“Well… Maybe you can do that. But I have to believe… that no one else will die.”

Ai sighed. “You’re a stubborn one, you know?”  
I nodded. “Always have been.”

Our conversation was cut off by the restaurant door opening. Daisuke finally came out, producing an interesting looking omelette.  
“I know it’s a bit late for breakfast,” he said with a wink, “but this one’s always been a favourite of mine. So, dig in.”

\--

After the honestly delicious meal, the compliments of which had Daisuke completely flustered, I checked the time. There was still plenty of time in the afternoon; I had a perfect opportunity to spend time with someone. I excused myself from the table, and headed back to the main building.

Who would I spend time with today?

\--

I went to the games room, checking who was in there. Emi passed me on her way out, giving me a bright smile, but she was clearly in a hurry and didn’t stop for long.  
The only one left in the room was Yosuke, setting up a fresh game of billiards.

“Hi, Yosuke.” I said as I walked up. He looked up and grinned at me.  
“Hey, perfect timin’. You know anything about pool?”  
“Well, um… not really.” I admitted. He whistled.  
“Wanna learn?”  
I couldn’t turn down his enthusiasm. I grabbed a cue from the wall, and listened intently to Yosuke’s lessons.

I ended up learning a lot. I was still definitely a beginner, but now I could easily play without needing to ask over and over about the rules.  
Yosuke was still bubbling with excitement. “Nice, nice! You got a really stable shot, just gotta work on your aim. If ya keep it up, you’ll be hittin’ with the pros in no time!”  
I had to laugh. “Yosuke, _you’re_ the pros. I’ll never be that good.”  
Yosuke lowered his sunglasses, giving me a wink. “True, but think of it this way; if I only played against people on my level, when would I ever play?”  
I smiled. “Well, that’s fair enough…”  
“Never saw a lot of point to it, to be honest,” Yosuke said, lining up a shot of his own. “I’d have fun playing whether or not I was the Ultimate Billiards Player. My crew never really cared either.”  
“Your crew?” I blinked. “Like, a club?”  
“Kind of…” he suddenly spoke very carefully. “See, I uh… I used to bail on school, head down to the local clubs to play. Folks ‘round there were a lot older than me; hell, some of ‘em were older than my dad! But they were real nice at the places I went to. Didn’t give me shit for skipping school, nothin’. Just happy to play some games with me.”  
Yosuke’s face lit up as he talked about his old friends. He struck the cue ball, scattering the rest out of their position. Once they settled, he straightened up, leaning on his cue.

“’Course, they changed their tune a bit when I got accepted as an Ultimate. They were real firm about me goin’ to classes then… One of the rougher guys, Katsu, used to drag me out, put me in his car and drive me there.”  
“It sounds like you were really important to them,” I said with a smile, “almost like you were their own son.”  
His cheeks tinged pink. “Ha, well, maybe. Never asked ‘em.”  
“What were they like?” I asked. Yosuke gave a soft chuckle, tilting his head back.  
“Well… tough, for one thing. Most of ‘em didn’t work regular hours anymore. Some of ‘em used to… uh…”  
He trailed off then.  
“Well… probably better I don’t tell you that part.”  
Criminals, then.  
“But they weren’t as bad as they seemed.” He lined up another shot, seeing as I wasn’t taking any more turns. “Real nice around kids, too…”  
Yosuke looked over at me, an odd, scared look on his face. “… Do you think they’re lookin’ for me?”  
“Well, they’d definitely be worried that you’re missing… unless it was normal for you to not turn up for close to a week?”  
Yosuke bit his lip. “Shit… didn’t even think of that…”  
“Would it be bad if they were looking for you?” I raised my eyebrow.

Yosuke rubbed the back of his head. He was suddenly a bundle of anxiety; I couldn’t tell why.  
“Yosuke?”  
“Look, uh… I-I’m sorry. Gonna have to cut our game short… Thanks for hanging out, Hazuki.”  
He crossed the room, replacing his cue, but after that he was storming out of the room.  
I wondered what could have made him so upset. Was it really so bad, knowing there were people home that missed him? Wasn’t that why most of us wanted to go home in the first place?  
Despite my confusion, I cleaned up the table before I left.

\--

For the rest of the day, there were no more events. No surprise announcements, no body discoveries, nothing. I had dinner alone at the restaurant, then made my way back to my hotel room.

I was starting to get used to the silence, but at the same time it chilled me to the bone. No matter what was happening, I was none the wiser.  
I’d just changed into my pyjamas when I heard a knock at the door. I approached it slowly, and opened it just a crack.

“Setsuko…?”

She stood at my door, her face expressionless. Her posture was… looser, than usual. She looked down at me.  
“Can I come in for a moment?”  
“Oh, of course…” I opened the door for her. She sighed softly on her way in.  
“You’re still too trusting, Hazuki.” She said, taking a seat at the end of my bed.  
“But, why wouldn’t I trust you…?” I walked over, sitting next to her.  
“Do you want the short list?” she turned to me.  
“Well… no, not really. This isn’t what you wanted to talk about, is it?”  
Setsuko sighed, turning away from me again.  
“I… I don’t know how to say this. I… I was wondering if I could, well… stay here.”  
“Stay here…?” I tilted my head.

Setsuko closed her eyes.  
“Did you know Monokitty already cleared all of Suzume’s things out of her room?”  
I gasped softly. “Setsuko…”  
“There’s nothing left of her. Not even in my own room. It… took everything left of her away from me. This is the last place she was…”  
She ran her hand over the bed behind her.  
“It’s childish, I’m sure… but I’m not ready to let her go…”  
“Setsuko,” I reached out for her hand. “It’s okay. I understand. You can stay here as long as you need to.”  
She looked at me, her expression turning sad.  
“You’re… too kind.”

It wasn’t gratitude that made her say it. It was a statement of fact, to herself more than anything. Something steeled in her eyes, and she tightened her grip on my hand.  
“Thank you, Hazuki. Thank you…”  
I smiled. “Do you need to get anything from your room?”  
“Ah, yes…” she said, standing up. “I probably should wear something to bed if I’m staying here…”  
“Wait a minute… you mean you normally don’t?”  
Setsuko smirked at me. “Are you surprised?”  
I felt my face heat up. “A little… I know you said you didn’t care if someone saw you undressed, but…”  
Setsuko shrugged. “A body is a body, and I’m comfortable in mine. I’ll be back soon.”

After she left, I let out a big sigh. I was happy that she was talking to me, but I still needed to apologise for insulting her earlier.  
She returned in about ten minutes, already dressed in a plain black tank top and pyjama pants.  
She lay down on the side of the bed Suzume used to use, curled up in almost the same way. Her expression went soft again; I was sure Monokitty probably cleaned up in here without my knowing.  
I lay down, facing her. “Setsuko?”  
“Hm?”  
“I’m… I’m sorry, about before. You have every right to be angry about Suzume’s death. I just… hated seeing you so sad.”  
“It’s not just Suzume,” she sighed. “Jirou, as well… No one seems to care anymore. Monokitty drops some shiny toy in front of them and… suddenly, nothing else matters.”  
“No one’s stopped caring,” I said, trying not to insult her again. “They just… need to cope in different ways.”  
Setsuko sighed. “I don’t want to argue about it anymore. If you believe I have every right to be angry, then let me.”  
I took a deep breath. “… Okay. But just remember, we care about you too.”  
“I find that harder to believe,” she said as she closed her eyes. “but thank you anyway.”  
Setsuko fell asleep remarkably fast. I started to drift off myself.

\--

My dreams were still absent. I remained in a strange stasis; floating in an empty black, waiting for the time to pass until morning.  
There was one thing different this time. I heard a soft melody, far off in the darkness behind me. I turned towards it, but movement was still impossible.

What was going on inside my head…? Was it because of the memory loss?

I didn’t know. I couldn’t know. I simply waited until morning, listening to that soft song in the distance.  
Wondering if I would ever remember the source…


	8. Chapter 2.2 - Daily Life: Cardiac Acceleration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was all too good to be true. Monokitty's gift of a new floor is swiftly followed by a brand new motive...

“Good morning, kittens! It is now seven a.m.! Time to rise and shine for another mew-tiful day on our lovely resort!”

I blinked awake slowly. The cheery announcement did nothing but leave the early signs of a headache in my brain, every time I heard it.  
Slowly, I pushed myself up into a sitting position, yawning. I blinked once, twice… then noticed.

Setsuko wasn’t in my room.

A note was left on the bedside table, folded in half. I picked it up, reading the message left inside.

_Thank you for letting me stay, and thank you for trying to understand. I’m sorry I left before you woke up, but you sleep like the dead, and I needed to go.  
Setsuko_

I couldn’t help a smile; it seemed so much like… _her_ , to leave a note behind. I decided to keep it, and stored it away in the drawer by my bed.  
I checked the time before I started getting ready; 7:03. It was starting to become a game, seeing how fast I could get ready for the day.  
Today’s score was 7:26. Not too bad! I made my way out of the hotel, heading over to the restaurant for breakfast.

\--

I’d made up my mind to make something for myself. I headed into the kitchen, finding it occupied by Ryuu, Kaoru, Hikaru, and Jun. Ryuu and Hikaru sat on different counters, discussing something with the others; Kaoru, in the middle of slicing up fruit, and Jun, preparing something sweet-smelling over the stove.  
“Good morning, everyone.” I greeted.  
“Hey, hey! Morning!” Ryuu waved, his smile as bright as the sun outside. “No crashes today?”  
I puffed my cheeks out in mock-offence. He just winked at me.  
“Good morning, Hazuki,” Jun said with a smile. “Sorry, it’s a little crowded right now…”  
“That’s okay, I’m happy to wait.”  
“You can just have some of ours,” Kaoru said, looking over her shoulder. “There’s plenty!”  
“No, thank you,” my smile turned sheepish. “I want to try, um… making my own.”  
“Making your own?” Ryuu tilted his head. “Wait, y’haven’t cooked your own food once here, have ya?”  
“Well… n-no…” I rubbed my arm, suddenly nervous. Ryuu’s eyebrows popped up in surprise.  
“D-do you like to, to cook, Hazuki?” Hikaru asked.  
“No, not really…” I shook my head. Kaoru let out a giggle as she walked over, handing a plate of fruit each to the boys.  
“You told me you couldn’t like, make a single edible meal or something, right?” she asked.  
“That’s pretty difficult, y’know,” Ryuu said, pointing a piece of apple at me. “Bein’ that bad at cooking? That’s a gift.”  
“Ryuu,” Kaoru scolded him. “Ignore him, sweetie. Why don’t you like, give it a try while we’re here? I’ll help you if you need it.”  
I nodded to her. Surely, I could manage something if Kaoru was helping me…

... Or not.  
“I… like, I don’t even know what to say?” Kaoru stared at my completely burnt bacon and eggs, completely stunned. Hikaru and Jun gave it the same, wary look.  
Ryuu, dramatic as ever, took one look and formed a cross with his fingers. “That is not food anymore. Ya destroyed it.”  
My shoulders slumped. I was so embarrassed…  
“You _were_ watching it, right?” Kaoru raised her eyebrow.  
“Yes, of course I was…”  
“And you put the temperature to what I told you?”  
I looked at the stove top. It didn’t exactly have numbers, so I just had to guess what Kaoru had meant by ‘medium heat’.  
“Where did you put it, honey?”  
I showed her the spot.  
“… Hazuki,” Kaoru deadpanned. “That’s like, double what I was suggesting!”  
“O-oh…” I turned red.

A hand gently landed on my head.  
“It’s o-okay,” Hikaru said softly. “Y-you just have to, to try a-again.”  
“But I don’t want to waste more food…” I looked at the burnt monstrosity again.  
“It-it isn’t a w-waste. Go get more, o-okay?”  
I sighed, heading back to the fridge. It was nice, I suppose… having people believe in me like that. My parents had given up on teaching me to cook a long time ago. My mother’s advice was particularly obnoxious…  
_“Just find an Ultimate Cook at your school and marry them! You’ll be set for life.”_

I returned to the counter with the ingredients for attempt two. Attempt one had been disposed of; Jun shook the remaining burnt pieces off the plate in to the garbage.  
“Sorry… it didn’t smell good.” He said, blushing softly.  
“Okay, from the top,” Kaoru said, directing me. “Get the pan ready and put the heat on.”

Attempt two was… better. It wasn’t amazing, but it was edible. The others were proud of my success, but I did feel like a preschooler holding up a finger painting to her parents.  
“There ya go! Jus’ keep at it and you’ll be makin' us a feast next thing ya know!” Ryuu said.  
“Ignore him, sweetie. You did a great job!” Kaoru said with a sweet smile.  
“Thank you…” I replied. “I… I think I’ll eat outside, though. It’s a little warm in here.”  
“Sure thing, Hazuki. We were like, going to take off to the main building today.” Kaoru nodded.  
“She wants to dress me up nice,” Ryuu winked. “Joke’s on her, I’m gorgeous in a potato sack.”  
Hikaru snickered into his hand.  
“I’ll be going too,” Jun said, packing up his things. “I want to examine the plants in the balcony garden a bit closer today.”  
“That’s right,” I turned to him. “You let Setsuko have it yesterday.”  
“She needed it more than I did…” Jun lowered his eyes. I saw the barest hints of tears in them before he waved goodbye and made his exit. Ryuu and Kaoru did the same shortly after.

And Hikaru and I were left alone.

“Um, H-Hazuki…” he started quietly.  
“Yes?”  
“I… well, d-do you mind if I, if I sit with you? It-it’s okay if y-you don’t want me to…”  
I smiled at him. “That sounds lovely, Hikaru.”

\--

The weather was perfect, once again. Clear skies, cool breeze. The ocean trapping us sparkling and calm.

Hikaru was quiet while I ate my food. He alternated between watching me and watching the ocean, fidgeting his hands on the table. I looked up when I finished my food; he was looking away from me this time.  
“Was there something you wanted to talk about, Hikaru?”  
He jumped a little when I spoke, turning back to me with wide eyes.  
“Ah… N-not really…” he replied. “It-it’s just… I-I do feel… comfortable, I guess. With y-you.”  
I smiled. “Well, thank you.”  
He didn’t return it. “I… I do h-have a question, though…”  
“Yes?”  
“W-well, it’s… it’s about…”  
He suddenly froze, staring at something behind me. But when I turned around, there was nothing there. I looked back at him, sensing a sudden hostility.  
“Hikaru?”  
“N-never mind. D-d-don’t w-worry about, about it…”  
“Are you sure? You seem shaken up all of a sudden…”  
Hikaru stood. “N-nothing to worry about… I think, think I h-have an answer any, anyway… I’ll s-see you some, some other time, Hazuki…”

I frowned as he left. What had gotten into him all of a sudden…? I looked over my shoulder again, but there was still nothing there.  
I let out a sigh, picking up my plate. There was no point in worrying about it now; I may as well just get on with my day.

\--

After cleaning up, I headed up to the second floor of the main building. I’d decided to have a closer look at the concert hall today; I didn’t really get a chance before, not without interrupting Shizuka’s acoustics test. I wasn’t brave enough to risk that.

But when I walked into the concert hall, I found I wasn’t alone.

Shizuka was there again, apparently practicing her notes. She looked so different on stage; more peaceful, comfortable with herself. She even smiled when she saw me, and it was genuinely kind.  
“Good morning, Miss Hazuki.” She greeted as I walked onto stage.  
“Good morning, Shizuka… Are you practicing for something?”  
Shizuka laughed softly. “Just some simple vocal exercises. Perhaps you would like to join me? I am sure even you enjoy singing once in a while.”  
I had to smile in response. “Well, as long as you don’t mind… I’m really not that good.”  
“Well, perhaps all you need is a good teacher.” Shizuka beckoned me over. I took a spot next to her, and she began to correct my posture.  
“What does this have to do with singing?”  
“Quite a lot, Miss Hazuki. Now, hold your pose, and let us begin. Repeat after me.”

I spent a long time with Shizuka, trying my hardest to mimic her notes. At the end of it, even though my throat was a little sore, I was happy. I hadn’t heard my voice sound so nice before.  
Shizuka seemed pleased as well, congratulating me with a polite clap.  
“Excellent progress, simply excellent. You have a wonderfully delicate voice, Miss Hazuki; it is a pity we did not practice together sooner.”  
“Well, thank you for the compliment, Shizuka.” I smiled at her. “I feel like that’s high praise.”  
Shizuka sighed deeply, closing her eyes. “It is. I have tried to teach so many other girls my age, but none of them have the backbone necessary to survive my lessons.”  
My smile dropped, as I raised my eyebrow. “What do you mean? Did they get upset with you?”  
“Most often, yes,” she opened her eyes, turning out towards the seating. “Some would cry too easily, and claim I was simply bullying them. Others were too headstrong, and refused to follow my instruction because it did not suit their whims. You, however, are kind and polite, willing to follow instructions, but you know the difference between cruelty and criticism.”  
She looked over her shoulder at me. “But do not let my praise go to your head. I will not be this kind often.”  
“Oh, well, that makes sense,” I smiled again, a little nervous this time. “I mean, you can’t really improve if you don’t know what your weak spots are, right?”  
Shizuka nodded. “Very sensible. But I think you have had enough for today; I would hate for you to damage your vocal chords.”  
“Well, thank you for your time today.” I gave her a respectful bow. She smiled at that, turning back to me.  
But whatever she was going to say then was rudely interrupted by the announcement bells.

“Good midday, kittens! Your favourite host has another surprise for you! If you would all be so kind as to report to the dance hall on the ground floor ASAP, we can get started! Don’t keep me waiting meow! And don’t even _THINK_ about staying away or attacking me, Himura! _I KNOW WHERE YOU SLEEP!_ ”

When the announcement ended, Shizuka’s expression had steeled.  
“Well, that is a nuisance. Shall we go together, Miss Hazuki?”  
I nodded. “Sure. Let’s hurry down.”

\--

Shizuka and I were, apparently, the last to arrive in the dance hall. I would like to say I wasn’t sure how, but the answer was that Shizuka walked very slowly.  
_“Never rush for someone beneath you,”_ she told me when I asked.

When we got there, I instantly noticed something strange.

Four of our group were sitting on Monokitty’s stage, and none of them looked very well at all. In the first seat on the left was Jun, chewing on his nails with a panicked shadow over his face. Next to him was Ai, sitting with eyes closed, arms and legs crossed, and a frown above her flushed cheeks. Beside her was Emi; I’d never seen her with such an intense frown on. She bounced her leg in impatience, scribbling something in her notebook so firmly I heard the pen scratches from across the room.  
And last in the line was Fuyuki. He shifted on his chair, staring intently at Emi like a cat watching a bird. It was… unsettling.  
Shizuka and I approached the others, standing near the stage and watching closely.

“Michiko,” Shizuka asked, hooking their arms together. “What is all this?”  
“I don’t know,” Michiko shook her head. “They’ve been acting like this all morning, and before the announcement, apparently Monokitty rounded them all up.”  
“I was looking after Jun,” Keiji confirmed. “The symptoms point to an acute panic attack.”  
“Ai’s been like, avoiding everyone,” Kaoru said. “When we ran into her after breakfast, she did a full one eighty to get away.”  
“And as for Ginger,” Ryuu pointed at Emi, who glared even harder at him. “She’s been pissed as fuck all mornin’ too. Considerin’ she’s normally crazy cheerful, this is creepin’ the shit out of me.”  
“The only mystery left is what’s going on with Takada,” Yosuke said, scratching his head. “Apparently, the only that saw him at all was…”  
He looked over at Nana, who was staring up at the four with a grimace.

“Nana? Did you see Fuyuki this morning?” I asked her gently.  
“Only for a second.” She answered, “He was messing around with the locked door in the wardrobe.”  
Fuyuki turned around at that, giving Nana the most vicious look he could muster.  
“I told you to keep that to yourself,” he hissed at her.  
“And Chouko told you,” Nana held the doll in front of her face. “You don’t get to threaten us to keep quiet.”  
“Wait, what, Takada? You threatened a _girl_?” Yosuke asked.  
“I didn’t threaten anyone! I just told her not to-“

“ _GOOD AFTERNOON, KITTENS!_ ”

Confetti shot up from the back of the stage as Monokitty leaped into the air. The four on the stage flinched; Jun even let out a scream.  
“Well, aren’t you all looking like a bunch of morons! What’s the matter, kittens?” Monokitty landed in front of our friends, hands on its hips. “Cat got your marbles?”  
“That’s not even an expression…” Yosuke mumbled, shaking his head.  
Monokitty turned its head around, looking at the four seated guests.  
“Nyu-hu! Wowie, what happened to you guys!? You look like my litterbox on a bad day!”

Jun whimpered, Ai turned her head away, Emi growled and tensed up, and Fuyuki slumped down in his chair.

“What did you do to them?”

Monokitty turned its head back around, narrowing its eyes at Shizuka.  
“Now, why do you kittens always think it’s my fault something weird goes on here?”  
“Because it is always your fault,” Shizuka replied, examining her nails. “Now tell us, what did you do?”  
Monokitty huffed, sitting down on the stage’s edge.  
“ _I LIVENED THEM UP A BIT!_ ”  
“What does that even _mean_?” Michiko asked through gritted teeth. “Stop messing with us and talk!”  
“Notice anything… new, kittens?” Monokitty giggled.

We looked back up at our friends. Aside from their behaviour, nothing seemed too out of place…

But what I missed, Setsuko didn’t.

“Those bracelets,” she said, pointing them out.  
All four of them had a large, coloured bracelet on their left wrists. Jun’s was a dark green, Ai’s was a pastel blue, Emi’s was a deep blood red, and Fuyuki’s was a bright yellow. They were bulky in size, as well – looking more like a sports watch than a standard bracelet.  
“Ugh, why did **_you_** have to be the right one? Yes, it’s the stupid bracelets! Or, as I like to call it… the _ACCELERATORS_!”  
“What do they like, accelerate?” Kaoru asked, folding her arms.  
“Well, what does it _LOOK LIKE_!? It accelerates parts of your personality! Makes you a whole new, _MUCH WORSE_ you! Jeez, I really _DO_ have to explain everything!”

Keiji frowned. “But they’re all having different reactions to these bracelets… So none of them ‘accelerate’ the same trait, do they?”  
“Right you are!” Monokitty hopped up. It skipped over to Jun, lifting up his arm.  
“No, don’t touch me-!”  
“This ugly-as-sin one? This one is your patented Excess Accelerator! It takes the part of you that bothers you the most, and turns it _UP TO ELEVEN_! So that’s why this **_delicate flower boy_** is suddenly terrified of his own shadow!”  
Jun yanked his arm away, curling in on himself.  
“I see,” Keiji raised his hand to his chin, looking thoughtful. “So the panic attack was caused by that…”  
Monokitty moved along, lifting Ai’s arm next.  
“And as for this lovely one, _THIS_ is the super fun Lust Accelerator! This one bump-bump- _BUMPS UP_ your hormones! Just look at that nasty blush on the gun girl’s face, nya-ha!”

Ai scoffed, covering her face with her free arm.  
“Fuck off, you asshole…” she growled. “This isn’t funny.”  
“ _IT’S HILARIOUS_! Just look at you!”  
Monokitty cackled as it moved on to Emi. It didn’t bother lifting her arm up; it just cheerfully explained the bracelet’s purpose.  
“As for this one, I think it’s perfectly obvious that this one’s the Rage Accelerator! This one just makes every little thing annoy the _SHIT OUT OF YOU_ until you can’t take it anymore! Honestly, it’s probably my favourite, nyu-hu!”  
“Ugh, stop with the fucking ‘nyu-hu’! It’s not cute, it’s just… annoying!” Emi shouted. Monokitty dodged her attempted kick.  
“See, I was going to put this one on someone else, but Matchmaker’s just so… **_optimistic_** , it even annoys me! So let’s annoy her for a while,” Monokitty leaned back towards her. “Nyu. Hu?”  
“GAH!”  
“And last but not at all least,” Monokitty finished its walk, lifting Fuyuki’s arm up. “This is the Paranoia Accelerator! This one stimulates your fear and mistrust of everyone and everything around you, until you just can’t take it anymore! Maybe your mind goes to sludge, maybe you start getting a bit stabby! Who knows!?”  
Fuyuki took his arm away from the cat. “No touching, thank you.”

“So, is this enough _EXPOSITION_ for you assholes!?” Monokitty growled down at us. “This is your new reality! These four bracelets? Gotta be worn all the damn time! Someone has to take the hit, or you’re all _IN FOR PUNISHMENT_!”  
“It’s already in the rules,” Nana said, holding up her e-handbook.  
“That’s right! Now, there’s a little bit more too! Why don’t you read ahead for us, ya little creepshow, since you’re going to do it anyway!”  
Nana ignored the insult, tapping the right arrow.  
“Accelerators must be exchanged with another guest within fifteen minutes of Monokitty’s Alarm. Failure to uphold this rule, or if a bracelet is left off for more than fifteen minutes, will result in punishment. Furthermore, Accelerators can be traded, but only with Monokitty’s approval.”  
“That’s ri~ight!” Monokitty bounced on the spot. “So you better start keeping an ear out for the alarm! And you also better start polishing your babysitting skills, nyu-hu-hu!”

It disappeared in a pile of confetti.

“… Okay, um,” I started, but chaos unfurled before I could finish.  
Jun suddenly jumped off the stage, making an apparent scramble for one of two things; the door, or Keiji. He ended up with the latter, falling into his arms in an incoherent ramble.  
On the other half of the chairs, Fuyuki had scrambled away from Emi, who was suddenly yelling a string of curses so violent it made my ears burn.  
“Holy shit, this is crazy,” Daisuke whistled. Ryuu pulled himself up onto the stage, and picked Emi up around the waist.  
“Hey, hey, put me down! I’m gonna kick him in his junk so hard, he’s gonna go back in time to where he _wasn’t_ a little fuckboy bitch! Which is when he was _FUCKING BORN_!”  
“Okay, Ginger, whatever you say. Gonna need you to breathe first, okay?”  
“I’LL BREATHE WHEN I’M DEAD!”

As I approached the stage, Fuyuki laid down on his stomach.  
“Hey, Fuyuki,” I spoke slowly, trying not to scare him. “How’re you feeling?”  
“Yeah, you doin’ okay buddy?” Yosuke walked up on my left.  
“There are insects,” Fuyuki hissed. “On my eyes. Or maybe stars, in them, I mean she hit me… pretty hard.”  
“Yeah, he’s okay.” Yosuke turned to me. “But, uh… she’s not.”  
He pointed up at Ai, still firmly perched in her chair. She’d closed her eyes again, completely tensed up.  
“She’s been infected,” Fuyuki said, tapping his hand against the stage. “Just like me, but a little less… bugs.”  
“You know what, maybe he’s not okay either.”

Setsuko walked up to the stage, pulling herself up. She offered me a hand.  
“Come on, help me.”  
I took the offer. I was surprised how easily she pulled me up, but then again, it made sense that she was strong. Once I was on my feet again, we walked over to Ai.  
She opened one eye, looking up at me.  
“Don’t touch me.”  
“We won’t,” Setsuko said, folding her arms. “When did this happen?”  
“I don’t know,” Ai shook her head, shifting in her chair. “I woke up with this damn thing on, and now everything is… I don’t know! My brain is one big goddamn orgy, and I do NOT like it!”  
“How vulgar,” Shizuka covered her mouth.  
“Oh, fuck _you_ , Diva,” Ai pointed at her. “As if you’ve never been horny a day in your life!”  
“Even if I had, I would not be so… blatant, about it.”  
“Yeah, right,” Ai snorted.  
Setsuko shook her head. “Stop harassing each other. We have a serious problem right now.”

She turned to Michiko. “I assume you have a plan already?”  
Michiko nodded firmly. “We need to keep an eye on everyone affected by this… weird, bracelet mess. There’s twelve of us who still have our senses, so we’ll divide up into groups. One person wearing a bracelet will be watched by three people.”  
“Works for me,” Ryuu said, Emi still swinging under his arm. “But who’s watching who?”  
“Well, it’s pretty clear Jun won’t go with anyone but Dr. Keiji,” Daisuke jerked his thumb toward the pair. Keiji raised his head at his name, as if he’d missed everything going on while he was calming Jun down.  
“That’s fine; it’s probably safer having him with a medical professional.” Michiko nodded. She looked up at Ryuu on the stage again, putting her hands on her hips.  
“Since it looks like you’ve got her well in hand, why don’t you keep an eye on Ikeda?”  
“I’ll show _you_ well in hand, you stuck-up fuck-up basket of DICKS-“  
Ryuu nodded. “Yeah, don’t worry ‘bout me; I got her.”

“As for you, Harakawa,” Michiko looked over at Yosuke. “Can we trust you to watch Takada?”  
“I mean, I guess,” Yosuke shrugged. “I don’t really know what ya want me to do with him, though. He’s real out of- OUGH!“  
His sentence was cut off by Fuyuki’s hand colliding with his stomach; an open-handed SMACK that knocked Yosuke for a loop.  
“Augh, sonuvabitch!”  
“Sssh,” Fuyuki hissed again. “The greenhouse is on fire. We need the hose. In the wardrobe.”  
“I don’t like you when y’re fucked up, man! If you hit me again, I’m gonna knock ya out ‘til this bracelet swap happens.”  
“In the wardrobe, Harakawa…”

“Okay, three out of four. What about Matthews?” Michiko looked up at Setsuko. Setsuko raised her eyebrow in response.  
“Well, I assume you’re going to say I should look after her.”  
“You’re responsible, you won’t take advantage of her, and you won’t let anyone else do it either.”  
“You also will not let her take advantage of anyone.” Shizuka interjected. “Perhaps you can even keep her silent?”  
“Suck my dick, Fujinami!”  
“You do not even have a-a-“ Shizuka turned red in the face.  
“That’s enough, Ai,” Setsuko put her hand on Ai’s shoulder. Ai froze, making a strange, gargled noise. Even being touched on the shoulder affected her? This was bad…  
“I’ll take her to the firing range. It’s better for her to have something to focus her mind on that isn’t… whatever she’s thinking about.”  
Setsuko took her hand away, which calmed Ai down a bit.  
“All right, then,” Michiko nodded. “That’s a start.”  
“So what about the rest of us?” Daisuke asked. “Judging by how everyone’s reacting to these things...”  
He pointed to each Accelerator victim as he talked about them.  
“Keep nonthreatening people with Jun, nice and not antagonistic ones with Emi, and between Ai and Fuyuki you’ve got tougher ones. Sound good?”  
“Sounds good, I suppose,” Michiko nodded. “Anyone have any protests to that?”

There were none. It made sense, after all.

“All right,” Michiko clapped her hands together. “In that case… Watanabe, Nakano? You two can help Himura.”  
“Why do I have to go with the Horny bracelet?” Nana grumbled. “Can’t I go with Bugbrain?”  
“Because, Nakano,” Michiko folded her arms. “You’ve proven over and over that you can’t resist causing trouble. So you’re going with Himura’s group, because you won’t be tempted to cause trouble for _her_ , isn’t that right?”  
Nana grumbled again, rolling her eyes.  
“I asked you a question, Nakano.”  
“Chouko says we understand, but don’t be surprised if we decide to prove you completely wrong.”  
“I won’t hold my breath either way. Nakajima and Nagasaki, I want you two taking care of Ikeda.”  
Ryuu shook his head. “No, no, bad idea.”  
“Excuse me?” Michiko frowned.  
“I won’t be concentratin’ if ya put Kaoru with me. I’ll worry ‘bout her instead of Ginger.”

Michiko sighed, rolling her eyes. “All right, fine. Take Satou instead.”  
I looked over at Ryuu. He’d finally set Emi back on her feet, but he was keeping one hand on the top of her head. She was glaring at him, but it was a lot less… furious, than she’d looked at Monokitty or Fuyuki.  
Ryuu was, apparently, hard to be mad at.

“Shizuka and I will watch Takada, and Nakajima and Kimihara will help Haruno. Does that work for everyone?”  
“Sounds good to me,” Kaoru nodded. “I mean like, not that this whole thing is good at all…”  
“I th-think…” Hikaru started, but he was cut off.  
“We’ll get through this, just like everything else. No reason to worry.” Daisuke said.  
“I don’t know, I’d say one of us being constantly pissed off is a reason.” Yuuma scoffed.  
“I d-don’t…”  
“Well, not like that’s not the case all the time, right?” Daisuke asked with a smile. “It’s just a little more than usual.”  
“I can’t believe we’re letting _you_ watch Ikeda. Non-antagonistic, my ass.”  
“Well I’m a lot less antagonistic than you-“

“Guys, stop it,” I cut into the argument. “Hikaru’s trying to say something.”

Hikaru looked up at me with a soft smile, but it faded away when he noticed everyone’s eyes on him now.  
“I-I, um… well, I-I was just, just thinking… The t-timing of these bracelets… doesn’t it f-feel like a motive?”

A chill fell over my body. It made sense… Monokitty had designed something specifically to make a number of us vulnerable in different ways. It could make us an easy victim… or drive us to kill.  
If Michiko hadn’t put us in groups like this… if Monokitty hadn’t revealed the Accelerators to us…

Who knows what would have happened?

“… Well, if it is,” Keiji spoke slowly. “We know what we’re dealing with for now. If the groups need to be adjusted when Monokitty’s Alarm goes off, we can do that. There’s no reason to think the worst, not yet.”  
“I-I know, but…” Hikaru lowered his head.  
“It’s just something else we need to work around. We can get through this.”  
Hikaru was quiet for a moment… but he nodded.  
“Well, we all have our jobs. I recommend also keeping these four apart,” Shizuka said, raising her hand in a sweep of the room. “To ensure no more arguments. Is that something we can agree on?”  
There was a small chorus of agreement.  
“Himura has already claimed the games room. I assume, Harakawa, you will be leading our group to the wardrobe?”  
Yosuke nodded. “He’s happier in there, but I’ll be keeping him off the door.”  
Fuyuki gasped, grabbing Yosuke’s arm. “That’s not fair! I need to go in there! It’s life or death!”  
“Well, we’ll talk about it when you’re not completely nutters, okay?”

“Where are we going to go?” Daisuke looked up at Ryuu. Ryuu took a look at Emi, then hummed to himself.  
“I don’t know, to be honest. The only place really left is the concert hall upstairs, but there’s not a whole lot to do up there.”  
“Better than nothing,” Daisuke shrugged. “Where do you want to go, Emi?”  
“I don’t care,” she huffed. “I’ve got work to do, so the concert hall works just fine. As long as I have somewhere to sit and you have somewhere to shut up.”  
Ryuu let out a little laugh at Daisuke’s expense. I held mine in; he looked so annoyed by it.

“We’ll go over to the infirmary,” Keiji broke the moment. “What will we do if the Alarm goes off?”  
“Meet at the balcony garden,” Michiko said. “And go from there. If there’s no alarm today, we’ll meet at the restaurant at seven and sort out tonight’s meal. If that’s all, everyone, let’s go.”

\--

Emi had become surprisingly co-operative once we took her to the concert hall. She took a seat down the front near the stage, opened up her notebook and started scribbling away. Ryuu went up to the stage itself, settling down on his side near the edge.  
Daisuke, on the other hand, put his hand on my shoulder at the door.

“Can we talk for a second?” he asked quietly.  
“We need to be watching Emi…”  
“I know, I know. We don’t have to go anywhere.”  
He gestured to the chairs to the side, back in the corner of the hall. I eyed him carefully; I was still worried about the way he’d been acting. But I nodded, and followed him to the corner.  
Daisuke leaned on the chair in front of him, looking over at the others.  
“Daisuke,” I started slowly. “What’s going on? You’ve been acting strange lately.”  
He looked over at me, his expression going soft and… sad.  
“I… Look, I don’t want this to sound bad, or anything, but… are you angry?”  
“Angry?”  
“About… about Suzume.”

I paused. Suzume? All this was about Suzume? It didn’t make sense to me.  
“About her, or at her?”  
“I don’t know,” he shook his head, running his hand over his hair. “Something’s been driving me crazy since… since the execution.”  
My stomach tightened at the final word.  
“Remember what I said before? That even though we’ve only just met recently, I feel like I’ve known you forever?”  
I nodded.  
“Well, when I saw her freak out on us… when she was being executed… I felt the same thing again. Like someone very important to me was…”  
“I understand,” I cut him off, seeing him start to shake. “I understand…”  
Daisuke swallowed, trying to calm himself down. “I know I shouldn’t care about her anymore. She betrayed all of us. But I… I don’t know _how_ I feel about her anymore.”  
He lowered his head. “And… I guess that’s what’s made me a little hostile.”  
“A little?” I raised an eyebrow.  
Daisuke laughed softly, rubbing the back of his head. “C’mon, give me that much.”  
“Daisuke, you were ready to bite Hikaru’s head off that night. _Hikaru_.”  
“Yeah, yeah,” he shook his head. “I don’t know. Something about him… it bugs me.”  
“Bugs you?” I frowned. “Do you know what it is?”

Daisuke just shook his head. “No idea. Just bugs me.”  
I knew that wasn’t true. I knew there had to be more to it… but he wasn’t going to budge.  
He was afraid of my reaction.  
“Look, Hazuki,” he said, turning to me. “I just… I haven’t had the chance to actually talk to you about all this.”  
“Well, you said we shouldn’t be alone together anymore.” I looked over at the others; no apparent change. Ryuu just casually talking to Emi while she worked.  
“I know, but… that was because of my motive.”  
I paused. “Your… your motive?”  
“What Monokitty told me to do.” Daisuke took a deep breath.

“It offered me the special immunity – a free pass home without the class trial – if I killed you.”

I stared at him. It all made so much more sense; he was afraid of hurting me if we were alone. If he was tempted by that offer, with no one around to stop him…  
No wonder he asked me to stay away.  
“I couldn’t tell you then,” he said, turning to me. “But since it’s not in place anymore, I guess… we’re okay to be around each other again? Unless, I mean, you don’t want me to…”  
I sighed, leaning back in my chair.  
“I… I think it’d be okay. But, not right now. Since, you know,” I gestured over to Emi. “We’re kind of busy.”  
“Oh, yeah, obviously.” Daisuke smiled. “Though, it doesn’t look like Ryuu really needs us at all.”  
“It’s kind of hard to stay mad around him, don’t you think?”  
“Don’t jinx it; she’s small but she’s terrifying.”

I had to agree.

\--

We headed back over to Ryuu and Emi, sitting a couple of chairs away. She seemed to definitely want her personal space right now.  
Not that that space stopped her from glaring at us out of the corner of her eye.  
“Welcome back to responsibility, kids,” Ryuu said with a smile. “Did you guys have fun over there?”  
“Sorry, man,” Daisuke shrugged. “Just had to get something off my chest, you know how it is.”  
Emi rolled her eyes. “Typical; just have to say whatever you have to say _right now_! Doesn’t matter if someone’s having a really bad time! You just really have to say something stupid to make a girl like you more!”  
Daisuke blinked at her, thoroughly confused. “I-I mean, I didn’t think it was that stupid…”  
Emi huffed, scribbling something in her notebook. “You’re completely oblivious. No wonder you’re still single.”

That struck a nerve. Daisuke frowned, his shoulders tensing up. Emi adjusted her glasses, continuing her writing.  
Daisuke opened his mouth to speak, but someone else spoke first.

“Hey, Ginger,” Ryuu said, turning over onto his back. “What does the Ultimate Matchmaker look for in her love life?”  
Emi stopped writing, lifting her pen from the page. “Excuse me?”  
“Well, I know y’heard me, but I’m gonna take a guess and say… you get that question a lot.”  
“Ugh,” she rolled her eyes, “You have _no_ idea! My mother was the worst about it; ‘oh Emi sweetie, when are you going to stop pairing off everyone else and get your own boyfriend? Surely there’s one nice boy at school that’s a match for you!’.”  
“So, no Mr. Ginger back home?” Ryuu asked.  
“No, there isn’t.” Emi shook her head. “But I’m sure the second I get back, it’s gonna start all over again.”

I realised, over the course of the afternoon, that Ryuu had a specific pattern. If one of us said something, anything, that started making Emi mad, he drew the conversation back around, looping her back until she settled down again.  
I appreciated it. I was good at diffusing situations, but Emi’s situation was a little more extreme than I was used to.

After a while, I stood up.  
“I’m going to head over to the games room for a moment. Do you all want something to drink?”  
“I’ll have something strawberry-flavoured if they have any,” Emi said. “Or just a normal lemonade, please.”  
“I’ll just grab water, please.” Daisuke said, shifting in his chair.  
“Ryuu? What about you?” I looked up at him, on the stage. He hummed loudly, narrowing his eyes.  
“… Just a lemonade for me, thanks.”  
“Okay; something strawberry or a lemonade, another lemonade, and water. I’ll be right back.”  
“Stay safe, shorty!”

\--

Outside of the concert hall was eerily quiet. The music that had played before had completely vanished; there was no sound but my footsteps as I headed down to the games room.  
It was creepy. Like an omen or something.

When I got into the games room, I spotted Yuuma at the snack bar. It looked like he’d had the same idea as me, just with a lot less walking.  
“Hello, Yuuma.”  
He spun around when I spoke, looking startled for a second.  
“Oh. Hey, Satou. What are you doing here?”  
“We were thirsty over in the concert hall, so I came to get drinks. Where’s the rest of your group?”  
Yuuma turned back to the fridge he had opened, rummaging through the different bottles and cans.  
“Still downstairs,” he said. “Matthews is trying to get us to let her teach us how to shoot.”  
“In her condition?” I asked, joining him on the other side of the counter.  
“It’s a ruse,” he shook his head. “Oldest trick in the book; pretend you’re just trying to help and cop a feel or two.”  
I paused. Yuuma looked down at me, and then looked away when he started to turn red.

“You fell for it?”  
“N-no I didn’t.”  
“Then who did?”

Yuuma stepped aside, letting me sort out my order.  
“No one ‘fell’ for it, exactly. Nakano’s just sitting in the corner of the room, watching. Himura’s doing all the heavy lifting, keeping Matthews occupied.”  
“So… why are you blushing?”  
“I’m not!” He protested, but he still kept his face pointed away from me.  
“Yuuma,” I said his name in a sing-song way as I set the last of the drinks down on the counter; a second bottle of water, this one for me. “What happened?”  
Yuuma grumbled something incoherent.  
“What was that?”  
“I said nothing happened. Nothing at all, so stop asking me.”  
“Okay, okay,” I raised my hands. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”  
“Gah,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not upset, or anything. It was just embarrassing.”

“Hi hi, Hazuki.”

The soft greeting came from Nana as she came up the stairs, waving at me.  
“What’re you doing over here? This is the Horny Bracelet room today.”  
“Well, uh, despite that,” I smiled at her. “This room has the snack bar, so I’m getting some drinks for my group.”  
“Oh, okay, that’s fair. Is there more strawberry?”  
“Sure is,” I nodded, grabbing one out of the fridge for her. I was surprised when she took it from me; I expected it to slip through the grip of her sleeve. Instead, she kept a firm grip on it, all while she tucked Chouko into her overalls, wiggled her free hand out of the sleeve, and opened the drink.  
“How are things in your group, anyway?” Yuuma asked.  
“They’re good; Ryuu has a really good handle on things. Daisuke and I haven’t had to really do anything.”  
“Lucky you,” Nana said, after her long drink. “Maybe we should switch you and Watanabe.”  
“Or you could shut your fucking mouth, how ‘bout that?” Yuuma growled.  
Nana tilted her head, humming as if she was thinking it over.  
“All right, that’s enough,” I said, picking up my drinks. “I need to head back now. You two play nice, okay?”  
“Fine,” Nana sighed. “Have fun in the boring group.”

\--

When I left the games room, the door to the wardrobe opened at the same time. Shizuka walked out, one hand on the side of her head.  
She looked very irritated.  
“Are you all right, Shizuka?” I asked quietly. She frowned at me.  
“Does it look like I am all right?”  
“Well… no…”  
“Then do not waste my time with stupid questions,” she shook her head. “This nonsense with these… Accelerators. I do not enjoy being a glorified babysitter, especially not to one so loud.”

I paused for a moment. I looked down to the drinks in my arms, carefully extracting the water bottle I’d taken for myself. I held it out to her; she looked at it like I was holding a severed limb.  
“You, um… you look like you need this.”  
Shizuka raised her eyes to my face, her eyes narrowed. She’d done something similar, the day we’d met… she was judging my intentions.  
After an awkward twenty seconds, her expression softened, and she took the bottle from my hand.  
“Thank you, Miss Hazuki,” she spoke softly, uncapping the bottle.  
“It’s no problem,” I shook my head. “How’s everything going in there, besides being loud?”  
Shizuka sipped the water, her frown reappearing on her brow.  
“We have to constantly drag him away from that locked door. He is like a toddler, failing to understand the word ‘no’. Not to mention his babbling; his newfound obsession with insects makes my skin crawl… And nothing he says makes any sense, even if it is some kind of code!”  
I listened to her rant for… way longer than I expected. Eventually she stopped, letting out a long-suffering sigh.  
“But nonetheless,” she said, looking me in the eye. “We must take care of them, or else something will happen that we will all come to regret.”  
The implication was clear; I just nodded in understanding.

The wardrobe door opened behind Shizuka. It was Michiko this time; she looked between us, definitely annoyed with… something.  
“Shizuka, are you feeling any better?” she asked. Shizuka nodded to her, then turned back to me.  
“Thank you, again, Miss Hazuki,” she said, a strange tone drifting into her words. “Once again, being in just the right place…”  
Michiko noticed the deliberate phrasing, too. She stepped aside, letting Shizuka back into the wardrobe… but she stayed out, giving me a suspicious look.  
“I’m going to assume she’s messing with you, but you know she has a point.”  
“I’m… sorry?”  
“What are you doing out here anyway? You’re supposed to be helping with Ikeda.”  
“Well, we were in there for a while, and I thought I’d get drinks for them.”  
“But nothing for yourself?” Michiko’s eyebrow raised.  
“Well, I did have water, but…”  
Michiko put two and two together. She sighed, rolling her eyes.  
“Jeez, Satou, have a little backbone for once.”  
On that incredibly insulting note, she turned and headed back into the wardrobe.

\--

I made my way back to the concert hall, trying not to let Michiko’s words get to me. It was just like before, wasn’t it…? I was too kind, too trusting.  
But it hadn’t turned out like so many people said it would…

I was happy to see that things hadn’t descended into chaos while I was gone. Ryuu still sat up on the stage, now talking quietly with Daisuke while Emi scribbled away in her chair. Ryuu gave me a big smile when he spotted me coming down the aisle.  
“Hey, welcome back! You must’ve had some fun, huh?”  
“Something like that…” I answered, handing out the drinks. Even Emi managed a smile and thanks.  
“You didn’t get anything?” Daisuke asked. I shuffled on the spot, and he shook his head.  
“Who did you run in to, Hazuki?”  
“N-no one… I just, you know, didn’t want anything…”  
“You’re the worst liar,” Emi said, pointing her pen at me. Ryuu waved his hands, making a strange noise.  
“C’mon, c’mon, leave her alone. She doesn’t wanna talk about it, so don’t bug her.”  
“Thanks, Ryuu…”  
Daisuke still stared at me while I sat down, but the topic was over. Ryuu and Daisuke picked up their conversation, including Emi and I whenever they could.

And before we knew it, it was seven o’clock. Time to meet the others.

\--

We didn’t make it far before we ran into another group. Keiji, Jun, Kaoru and Hikaru had only just left the infirmary, and we waited for them to catch up. I took a good look at Jun; his eyes were still bloodshot, but his breathing was steady, and the shaking had stopped. Kaoru had her arm looped with his, gently stroking the back of his hand.  
“How are you feeling, Jun?” Daisuke asked. Jun opened his mouth for a moment, but nothing came out.  
“He’s doing better,” Keiji supplied instead, placing a hand on Jun’s shoulder. “These two have been a big help, as well.”  
Ryuu smiled. “Yeah, they’re pretty great, aren’t they?”  
Hikaru pulled his hood further over his face, hiding from the praise. It made me smile, trying not to laugh.  
“Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I am like… really hungry,” Kaoru said, letting go of Jun’s arm. “Should we get a move on?”  
Ryuu moved first, hooking his arm around an unsuspecting Hikaru’s shoulders. “C’mon, you, let’s put some meat on these bones,” he grinned, dragging the painter along with him. Emi followed after, and Keiji lightly pushed Jun to do the same. Daisuke stared after them, a strange frown on his face… but he soon followed as well.

Before I could move, Kaoru suddenly reached for my hand.  
“Hang on a sec, girl,” she whispered. “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?”  
“Huh?” I blinked at her. She sighed, letting go of me.  
“Daisuke,” she said, gesturing towards him as he walked away. “Did you like, not see that look?”  
I hesitated.  
“So you did.”  
“W-well, I mean…”  
“Honey, I know you’re like, close with him? But he’s been acting real weird like, since the trial.”  
I looked away from her, down at my feet. He _had_ been acting strange, but he did tell me why… even if it didn’t make much sense to me.  
When I looked back up at Kaoru, she’d folded her arms, a look of concern plain on her face.  
“It’s… complicated?”  
Kaoru’s eyebrow raised. She was not convinced.  
“You don’t have to tell me the details, but like… at least tell me you’ll be careful. Don’t get messed up in whatever’s going on in his head.”  
“I won’t… thank you, Kaoru.”  
“Well, c’mon,” she patted my arm. “Someone’s gotta look out for you.”  
I smiled. Kaoru winked at me.  
“Now let’s go catch up,” she said, heading off where the others had gone. “Dinner’s gonna be real interesting tonight.”

Realisation hit me as I watched her leave. We hadn’t eaten dinner together since…  
Since we lost Jirou and Suzume. That last dinner together had been so peaceful, so friendly…

What would it be like, with two missing faces at the table?

I hurried after Kaoru. If I kept thinking about it, I’d be standing there forever.  
I just… had to keep moving. Figuratively and literally.

\--

I was right to think things would be different at dinner.

What I didn’t think of was just how _loud_ it was going to be.

The tables had been arranged together, just like before. At the end closest to the door, Fuyuki had been forced into his seat, and made repeated attempts to escape. These attempts were thwarted by Yosuke, standing behind him and pushing him down by his shoulders.  
“I just- I just need to get in,”  
“No you don’t, knock it off-“  
There was one empty chair between Fuyuki and Ai, who sat staring at the pair with a far-off look in her eyes. She was completely oblivious to the argument carrying on between Yuuma and Nana, just behind her – and they were responsible for most of the noise.  
Yuuma glared across at Nana, completely red in the face. Nana stared back, her mischievous smile goading him on further. I didn’t even see Setsuko, or Shizuka – maybe they went into the kitchen to avoid the noise, or they were in charge of preparing the food.  
The addition of our groups hadn’t been any help. Kaoru and I hadn’t been far behind the others, but it had been enough time for extra trouble to start. Emi and Daisuke were throwing barbs at each other, growing in volume despite Ryuu, and now Kaoru, telling them to stop. I could barely make sense of the situation, there was so much yelling…  
And of course, the hostility in the room aggravated Jun’s panic. He was reduced to a sobbing mess in the corner, where Keiji and Hikaru tried to calm him down.

Michiko sat in her usual seat, her head in her hands. I edged my way around everyone else, until I reached her side. I gently put my hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at me.  
“Don’t even bother,” she grumbled. “They’re completely gone; even you won’t get through to them at this point.”  
She looked exhausted, irritated, and completely and utterly _done_.  
“Do you need some water?” I asked her quietly. Michiko buried her face in her hands, sighing heavily.  
“I need a vacation. But the water will do, thanks.”  
“I’ll be right back,” I said, stepping away into the kitchen.

\--

The kitchen was much quieter.

Setsuko and Shizuka worked in silence. Shizuka sat by one of the counters, efficiently slicing up a variety of vegetables and sliding them aside. Setsuko, across the room, managed two boiling pots and a sizzling pan of something that smelled… delicious.  
“Hello, you two,” I said softly. There was a short pause in Shizuka’s chopping, and then she resumed her work.  
I guessed that was her… acknowledging my presence? It was hard to say.

“Hello, Hazuki,” Setsuko didn’t take her eyes off the stove. With a pair of tongs, she lifted something from the pan and flipped it over.  
“What are you making?” I asked as I walked past her, looking for the cups.  
“If it were so simple as one thing,” Shizuka huffed. “But no, we cannot be reasonable, can we?”  
“Don’t cut your fingers,” Setsuko warned. Shizuka returned to silence.  
“What does that mean?”  
“No one could agree on something, so I decided I’d just make whatever they asked for. We would have waited for everyone to show up, but a few were getting frustrated...”  
She paused, checking one of the pots. “I’m starting to wonder if these bracelets have some kind of contagious proximity effect.”  
Shizuka’s chopping slowed. I filled the cup in my hand, waiting for Setsuko’s explanation. She wouldn’t have said anything like that without good reason…

“Was there trouble in your group?” Shizuka asked.  
Setsuko flipped another of the pan items; I could see now that they were small pieces of steak.  
“Nothing extreme,” she explained. “For the most part, it was what I expected; as long as Ai focused on something that wasn’t another person, she was normal. But the four of us were in a small area, and I was keeping an eye on Yuuma and Nana as well.”

I blinked.  
She'd called him Yuuma.

“You know what those two are like,” Setsuko continued on. “Very solitary, even when they’re around others. However, they were a lot more talkative than usual this afternoon.”  
“How does that imply contagion?” Shizuka asked.  
“Because they were flirting with each other.”  
I nearly laughed. Yuuma and Nana, flirting? I wished I could have seen that, just so I could know what that would look like.  
Shizuka, however, still wasn’t convinced. “Are you surprised? Those two are equally unpleasant.”  
“It’s not just them,” Setsuko shook her head. “I… I’m feeling different, myself.”  
“Different?” I tilted my head.  
“You’ll have to trust me,” she looked at me from the corner of her eye. “I’m comfortable about most things, but this… I’d rather not elaborate.”

… Oh.

“… Maybe you have a point, in that case,” Shizuka finally spoke, returning to her work.  
“I can’t say for sure until I have time to watch everyone else,” Setsuko reached across the stove, turning off the heat. “Hazuki, you should head back out. We’ll need to concentrate.”  
“Oh, of course. I’ll see you out there.”

\--

I returned to Michiko first, handing over the water. She didn’t hesitate to take a long drink, knocking back half of the glass in a few gulps.  
“No change?” I asked, quietly. Michiko frowned up at me.  
“Oh, no, everyone’s finally put all their differences aside and _I am getting a fucking migraine here_.”  
“Okay, okay…” I put my hands up.  
“At least tell me they’re doing fine in there,” she said, taking another sip. “Shizuka looked like she was going to rip my head off for asking her to help.”  
“Well, if it makes you feel better, anyone else and she would probably _actually_ rip their head off for asking.”  
Michiko’s flat look told me it didn’t make her feel better.

“They’re doing fine in there.”  
“Good,” she said, looking over at the others.  
While Michiko had said there wasn’t any change, I could tell there was. Emi and Daisuke had been separated, sulking on either ends of the table. Ai had stopped ogling Yosuke and Fuyuki, her attention now turned on Kaoru sitting in front of her.  
Judging by the playful smile on Kaoru’s face, she was used to that kind of thing.

As for Yuuma and Nana, they hadn’t stopped sniping each other back and forth, but after what Setsuko said, I had to wonder if _this_ was their idea of flirting. Yuuma’s red went all the way to his ears and down his neck, and Nana didn’t even resort to filtering her words through Chouko. Nana caught me staring at her, and tilted her head towards me until I looked away.  
Just as I did, I caught Hikaru’s eyes as he walked past me. He didn’t stop, however; just kept making his way into the kitchen.

“Hihihi~…” I heard Nana’s sinister giggle. I waited for some inevitable teasing, but nothing followed it. Just… silence.

That, honestly, was worse.

\--

Dinner arrived soon after. Shizuka had walked out first, carrying a single plate she placed in front of Nana. Setsuko and Hikaru brought out the rest; fried steak and vegetables, a pot of a bright orange curry, and a creamy stew. After that, they went back into the kitchen, returning with plates and cutlery.

I was grateful that dinner made everyone quiet. The arguments were over, at least for now, as everyone helped themselves to a hearty meal. I checked what Nana was given, and nearly laughed; a plate of sushi, in elegant and neat rolls.  
She was a creature of habit, it seemed.  
I wanted to try a little of everything, and so I did. The stew was first; it was very smooth, but the aftertaste was kind of… cheesy? It was strange, whatever it was. The steak wasn’t bad, if a little overcooked for my liking, but the vegetables were perfect.  
The curry, though… The curry was amazing. Bursting with flavour and delightfully spicy; I loved it.

The room’s hostility faded away as everyone ate, replaced with the sleepy calm of a food coma. But unfortunately, our friends were still affected by the Accelerators, and we needed to talk about that.

Emi rested her head on the table, too tired to be angry any more. Jun was similarly exhausted, leaning on Keiji’s shoulder. Ai made a small show of licking curry sauce off of her fingers, maintaining eye contact with Kaoru. Fuyuki dragged his finger through the sauce on his plate as well, but this wasn’t about sexual implication and more about… writing a string of random letters.  
Michiko let out a heavy sigh, closing her eyes.  
“Himura, you wanted to talk about something before…” she said. Setsuko looked over at her, her expression steeling over.

“I do. I think we’re running an unnecessary risk with these groups.”  
Michiko’s eyes snapped open. She frowned at Setsuko, looking as if she personally insulted her.  
“What are you talking about? There’s three people keeping the affected person safe. How could that possibly be an unnecessary risk?”

“The effects of the Accelerators are contagious.”

Michiko froze. The others at the table snapped to attention as well.

“How do you…”  
“It was a theory at first,” Setsuko rested her elbows on the table, “While watching Ai, my thoughts were… unusual. Yuuma and Nana behaved strangely, as well.”  
Michiko looked at the two in question. She didn’t even ask their opinion; she took one look at Yuuma’s red face and went back to Setsuko.  
“So what makes it stop being a theory?”  
Setsuko looked down the table. “The Rage Accelerator was a lot less noticeable. It hasn’t done anything to Ryuu or Hazuki, but Daisuke’s temper is definitely up.”  
“It’s not the only thing that’s ‘up’ with him,” Ai chuckled. Setsuko continued on.  
“Excess is even harder to read, since it’s so specific to the affected person. And Paranoia… that takes different forms too, but in a different way.”  
“Tell me about it,” Michiko looked over at Fuyuki. “I’ve heard enough about bugs to last me a lifetime…”  
“She’s trying to tell you,” Fuyuki said slowly, as if talking to a child. “The seeds have sprouted, and the trees are growing.”  
Michiko stared at him, her expression deadpan.  
“And in layman’s terms,” Setsuko said, “it’s taken an affect on you and Fujinami.”

Michiko and Shizuka whipped their heads towards Setsuko, shocked by her words.  
“What are you… what are you trying to say?” Michiko glared at her.  
“Well, considering you haven’t believed anything I’ve said, what do you want me to say?”  
Michiko floundered for an answer, but fear had set in. We had no reason to assume Setsuko was lying to us, but something simply… stopped her from believing it altogether.  
Even if she wanted to.  
“… You… You may have a point, I’ll admit. We’ll… have to work around this…”  
“We can sort it out in the morning,” Setsuko said. “That way, we’ll know if the effects linger when we’re apart. But for now, it’s late.”  
“Who’s cleaning up today?” Nana asked, looking at her emptied plate.  
“I-I’ll do it,” Hikaru said softly. “I-I don’t mind…”  
“Do you want a hand?” I offered.  
“I-If you, you aren’t tired…”  
I shook my head. “No, I’m not tired. I’m happy to help you out.”

\--

It was still a lot to clean up, but I found that Hikaru and I worked well together. Even with just the two of us, we had everything washed, dried and put away in record time.  
When we finished, Hikaru leaned against a counter, sighing softly.

“Th-thank you, for… h-helping me.”  
“It’s no trouble at all…” I gave him a smile. Hikaru gave me a strange look, as if… he wanted to tell me something.  
“What’s wrong, Hikaru?”  
He looked away from me, ducking his head. “I-I’m sorry… I, I put you in-in the middle of this…”  
“The middle of what? What’s going on?”  
“Nagasaki. H-He doesn’t… trust me a-around you.”

I felt myself go rigid.

“I-I don’t trust him, b-but I d-don’t really, really trust anyone… b-but I, I don’t w-want you to, to h-have to pick a s-side. I-It’s… ridiculous.”  
“You’re right,” I said, frowning. “It _is_ ridiculous. You’re my friends, both of you. I’m not picking any side.”  
Hikaru looked at me, his expression soft. “Like I-I said… I w-won’t ask you to. He, he might, but… but th-that’s on him, isn’t it?”  
I sighed. “Don’t we have bigger things to worry about?”  
“A-are you worried? Wh-when it’s y-your, your turn…”

He rested his hands on my shoulders. I stared up at him, confusion taking over my thoughts. He took a deep breath, careful with his every word.  
“I… I-I won’t let, let you… be, be hurt.”  
But he still stuttered. I smiled gently, placing my hand over his.  
“Thank you, Hikaru.”

A deep blush crept over his face. He let go of me, moving away towards the door.  
“We-we should go, in-in c-c-case we, we miss the c-curfew…”  
“But you showed me the door…”  
“Ah-ah… I d-d-did, did do that… Didn’t I…”  
He was… adorably flustered. I tried not to laugh, instead making my own way to the door.  
“All right, let’s go…”  
But opening the door brought us face-to-face… with Setsuko.

She stood by the door, arms folded, her stoic expression firmly in place. She looked between us, lingering on Hikaru before she turned to me.  
“Is everything all right, Setsuko?” I asked her.  
“It’s fine,” she said, “Just fine. What about you two?”  
“We’re fine,” I said. Hikaru nodded in agreement.  
“Good,” Setsuko straightened up, gesturing towards the door. “Let’s get a move on; it’s very late.”  
“W-were you h-h-here… the whole, whole time?”

She looked over her shoulder at him, a strange look in her eye.  
“Of course I was. Is that a problem?”  
“N-n-no, no, no problem…”  
“Then let’s get a move on.”

\--

The walk back to the hotel was… odd. Hikaru excused himself, going on ahead; I could never get used to how fast he could move. Setsuko stayed with me, her eyes firmly locked on the painter down the path.  
“Were you worried about leaving us alone?” I asked her. “Really, he’s completely harmless…”  
“You’re wrong on both counts,” she answered. I stopped in place, thoroughly confused.  
She turned to me. “Hikaru is not ‘completely’ harmless. He’s harmless to you, for reasons I haven’t figured out, but to others? He’s capable of harm.”  
I wouldn’t have believed it from anybody else. But from the Ultimate Bodyguard, who needed to know exactly who she was dealing with at all times…

“And as for leaving you alone… that wasn’t what I was worried about.”  
“What were you worried about, then?”  
She looked away, at the hotel in the distance. “I don’t know if you noticed, but when you offered to help Hikaru… it made someone very, very unhappy.”  
“Someone…?”  
“It should be obvious, considering the subject.”  
“… It was Daisuke, huh?”  
Setsuko nodded. “He was hovering around, looking sullen and angry. So I stepped in.”

I lowered my gaze, watching my feet as I started moving again.  
“I’m worried.”  
Setsuko kept pace with me. She didn’t say anything, just… let me talk.  
“He hasn’t been himself since the trial… and what you said about the Accelerators affecting people not even wearing them… I feel like he’s going through too much at once and not letting himself move on.”  
I felt awful, having to remind her of Suzume’s death again. But Setsuko didn’t get angry, or upset.  
“I don’t know why, but he seems to really dislike Hikaru specifically…”  
“That’s something only he’ll understand. It’s not up to you to justify his behaviour, to yourself or anyone else.”  
I looked up at her. Maybe she was a little angry.  
“Well… I really don’t know what to do.”  
“I don’t either. We have a lot to deal with already… I’ll talk to Ueda about keeping him separate from the Accelerators if we can. Try to keep him more… stable.”

Stable. The phrase made my skin crawl, talking about him like some kind of hospital patient.  
Setsuko placed her hand on my shoulder.  
“Hazuki,” she said softly. “Try not to take all this all on yourself this time.”  
“I’ll try, but I’m not promising anything.”  
She sighed, not unkindly. “Of course not.”

\--

Setsuko left me at the door to my room. I realised, as I got ready for bed, that this was the first time in a while I’d have the whole bed to myself again.

I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. Maybe a bit of both?

I habitually went into the bathroom to change. I didn’t want to look into the mirror again; not after last time, seeing those gruesome images of my friends…

“You can’t fix anything by looking away from it.”

Cold crept into my body. I looked at the mirror from the corner of my eye.

There was nothing there. I just stared at myself, halfway into my pyjamas and looking tired. Maybe that’s all it was… I was tired, and that was making me hallucinate…my dead friends…

Thinking about them again made my chest feel raw. I finished dressing, and hurried to bed. I curled under the covers, hoping beyond reason that I’d wake up to a normal holiday destination… or even back in my own bed, safe at home.

Even if it was cruel to think about.


	9. Chapter 2.3 - Daily Life: Cardiac Acceleration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monokitty's new motive is in full swing, and Hazuki finds even more to worry about.

I woke the next morning not to the familiar bells and Monokitty speech, but to a horrendous siren blaring throughout the room. I covered my ears, first with my hands, and then with a pillow wrapped around my head, but it did nothing to dull the noise.

“Attention, attention!” Monokitty’s voice played over the speakers. “This is Monokitty’s Accelerator Alarm! All guests, please make your way to the fountain for the morning exchange!”

That was right; the Accelerators needed to be swapped before we were punished.  
It felt so… unbelievable, and we were already trapped in a Killing Game by a robotic cat. Now we had to deal with weird bracelets that changed our personalities…  
What kind of technology could do something like that? And in something as small as a bracelet… Part of me was fascinated, in a way I didn’t really understand.  
But the siren rang again, reminding me that I had to get ready for today. Loudly.

\--

By the time I was ready to leave, the siren had sounded another two times, and left a ringing in my ears. I hurried out of my room, slowing only to make sure I didn’t slam face first into someone once again. The coast was clear, and I made my way out of the hotel.

The weather was bad today. Dark clouds gathered above the island, spreading so far and wide I couldn’t see any sign of the sky. I could feel it in the air; it was going to rain, likely very soon. I hugged my arms around my body, picking up my pace. As much as I liked rain, I didn’t like being caught in it. And besides, I was probably running late anyway…

When I reached the fountain, nearly everyone else had arrived. The only ones that were missing were Michiko, and Shizuka.  
Ryuu smiled when he saw me, waving me over. “Mornin’ shorty.”  
“Good morning…” I replied, trying to smile back. I looked at Monokitty out of the corner of my eye, impatiently tapping its foot on the fountain.  
It had the four Accelerated guests sitting on the fountain around it, all of them looking dreadfully tired.  
“ _WHAT GIVES_?” Monokitty hissed. “Why do you kittens always have to keep me waiting? I’m a busy cat, I don’t have time to stand around and wait for the Resting Bitchface Brigade!”  
“Well if you’re so busy, why not get this over with and we’ll get them up to speed later?” Yosuke asked from his spot on the floor. Monokitty stared down at him, humming in thought.  
“Well, sure, why not! But they’re not gonna like it, nyu-hu, and that’s a _YOU_ problem!”  
“I’m sure we’ll survive,” Keiji said, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Now please, let’s get this over with.”  
Monokitty pretended to clear its throat, but just before it began to speak, the doors behind me opened.  
Michiko and Shizuka had arrived just in time. Monokitty frowned at them, raising its paws.  
“ _OH COME ON! THIS IS SO STUPID! WHAT IS WITH YOU TWO AND BEING ‘FASHIONABLY LATE’!?_ ”  
“Do not waste our time with your crying,” Shizuka said, examining her nails. “We are here, so begin your little speech.”  
Monokitty folded its arms. “Don’t piss me off, kitten! You’re all already on thin fuckin’ ice, let me tell ya!”  
“Thin ice?” Michiko asked with a traditional frown. “What did we do?”  
“You all think you’re so fucking smart, don’t you? Just watch the Accelerated guests in little groups so nothing bad happens, huh?”  
“Well, it was a pretty obvious solution. I’m surprised you didn’t notice it.”  
“ _OF COURSE I NOTICED IT!_ I just hoped you’d be more fun than that! But since you’re all trying to snip my bits, I’m gonna have to play dirty too!”  
“ _Snip your what now_ -“ Yosuke asked, clearly disturbed.  
“SO! An amendment to the rules, of course! Any Accelerated guest can only be accompanied by _ONE PERSON_ unless we’re in the middle of a trade-off! Two people is okay, _BUT ONLY FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES!_ ”  
“What!?” Michiko snapped. “You can’t do something like that!”  
Monokitty tilted its head, flashing a light from its eyes at her.  
“ ** _I can do whatever I want. What are you gonna do about it, Miss Socialite? Cry to Daddy?_** ”  
Michiko’s hands curled into fists.

Monokitty cackled, throwing its paws in the air.  
“ _NYA-HA-HA!_ Now that that’s over with, let’s get to the real fun! Who’s gonna have a fucking _GOOD TIME TODAY!?_ ”  
A TV screen flickered to life inside the foyer. Monokitty directed our attention to the display; it appeared to be a chalkboard, with four names already written on it.  
Jun, Ai, Fuyuki, and Emi.  
“So, so! Let’s start with Excess! Who’s going to show you their bad bits!”  
“Please stop sayin’ bits!” Yosuke hissed.

Beside Jun’s name on the board, a piece of chalk floated into the air and wrote out a name. Punctuated with a line underneath it, it read Nana Nakano.  
I looked around at the sound of an uncomfortable groan. Nana clutched Chouko tightly to her chest, the look on her face close to sick.  
“I don’t want that.”  
“ _THAT’S TOO FUCKING BAD!_ Put your Accelerator on, kitten!”  
Nana turned to Jun. He stood up from the fountain, his hand shaking as he tried to remove the bracelet.  
“I-I’m sorry-“  
“Oh for crying out loud…” Nana tucked Chouko into her overalls. She grabbed Jun’s arm, unlocking the bracelet. Jun’s fear seemed to disappear in an instant, replaced by a sad sympathy as Nana clipped the bracelet on her own wrist, and tucked it under her sleeve.

She went completely still, staring off into Jun’s chest. All of us were quiet; Monokitty stared at her, waiting for… something, anything. Some kind of indication as to what effect the Accelerator had on her.  
But she was just… still. Like one of her dolls.  
Monokitty sighed. “Well, that’s a hairball and a half! Hopefully the rest will be more fun! Next up is our lovely Lust Accelerator!”  
The sound of chalk scratching a name brought our attention back to the screen. Next to Ai’s name appeared an unlikely candidate…

Keiji Haruno.  
He cleared his throat, tugging on his collar. “M-me?”  
“Got a problem with that?” Monokitty eyed him. “Who doesn’t like a sexy doctor!?”  
Ai slowly rose from her spot, slinking towards Keiji. “You kind of are, you know?”  
“Please don’t start,” Keiji shook his head. Ai shrugged, unlocking the Accelerator on her arm.  
“Whatever you say, dude…” She got quieter as she took the bracelet off. Keiji took it from her, attaching it to his wrist.  
Their expressions seemed to switch. Keiji’s apprehensive look turned to a thoughtful blush, and Ai’s sleazy smile faded away to nervous embarrassment.  
“This… doesn’t seem so bad.” Keiji said softly, examining the Accelerator.  
“Oh sure, it doesn’t now,” Ai said, shaking her head. “But now I’m perfectly aware of _everything_ I’ve said and done and oh my god Watanabe I am so sorry.”  
“It’s fine,” Yuuma raised his hand. “Let’s just never talk about it. Ever again. Ever.”

The mystery was killing me. I had to know.

“So how do you feel, Doctor Love?” Monokitty asked, squishing its cheeks up in its paws.  
“If I went into detail,” Keiji replied, straightening his coat sleeve. “We’d be here all… night… long.”  
“O-oh, my-y!” Monokitty wiggled. “He’s a whole new predator! Let’s hurry along to the Paranoia Accelerator before I get swept off my paws!”  
Once again, we watched the chalk float up to the board, and write the next name beside Fuyuki’s. This time, it was Yuuma Watanabe. He stared up at the screen, scowling.  
“Well. Shit.”  
Fuyuki looked over at him, tipping his hat to the cellist.  
“It’s like a buzzing on the inside of your skull. And lots of tiny feet dancing all over your skin.”  
“That’s great,” Yuuma stepped over, scooping Fuyuki’s arm up. “Real great, now give me this.”  
Fuyuki didn’t protest, or even really move, as the Accelerator was removed from him. He let out a relieved sigh once it was off.  
“Oh, I do not envy you…”  
Yuuma rolled his shoulders once he put the bracelet on. He grumbled something incoherent, and began to tap on the back of his hand.  
“Yuuma, are you okay?” I asked.  
“I’m fine,” he answered. “I hear the frequency now.”  
“Frequency?”  
“The little bits of sound and static from the controls.”  
“… The controls?”  
“Yeah, he’s gone.” Fuyuki shook his head. “Whatever he thinks he’s saying, we’re not going to understand a word.”  
“And last but not least!” Monokitty interrupted. “The Rage Accelerator!”

One last time, we watched the chalkboard receive the fourth name. In clear print beside Emi Ikeda…

It read Hikaru Kimihara.

“Aah…”  
The soft whimper drew all of our attention. I couldn’t picture Hikaru angry, at least not without good cause. The closest he’d gotten was during the trial… and even then, he was more upset than angry.  
Emi immediately set about removing the bracelet, completely devoid of sympathy. Hikaru slowly shuffled over to her, taking the Accelerator when she all but shoved it into his stomach.  
“Don’t worry, honey,” Kaoru said, watching Hikaru shakily clip the bracelet onto his wrist. “Nothing bad is going to happen, okay?”  
“Well you can say that,” Nana spoke, after her long, frozen silence. “But it doesn’t mean anything. He’s gonna be a ticking time bomb, waiting for a reason…”  
“Shut up.” Hikaru snapped.  
Nana’s head lowered suddenly, like a child caught stealing sweets. “I’ll be good.” She mumbled.  
“ _NYA-HA-HA!_ ” Monokitty bounced in place. “I love it, I love it! This is gonna be _SO MUCH BETTER!_ Now remember kittens; don’t try to play your little babysitter game again, or I’ll cut you!”

The cat jumped into the fountain, and disappeared once again.  
Now we had to figure out a new strategy. If we couldn’t watch them in groups, then… what could we do?  
“So, um… what do we do now?” Jun asked.  
“There’s nothing else we can do,” Setsuko said, shaking her head, “but follow the cat’s rules.”  
“How tedious,” Shizuka huffed. “No one has a single suggestion? We must simply follow these orders?”  
“Do _you_ have any bright ideas?” Yosuke asked. The question knocked Shizuka down a peg, and she gave him a death glare in return.  
“We already established the effects are contagious, so this new rule just makes things simpler.” Setsuko continued. “We can have one person specifically watching each victim with a rotating schedule of third party check-ins. Any objections?”  
“Not with that, but… who’s watching who?” Emi asked, rubbing her eyes. “I’m sorry, but… I really need to get some sleep, myself. I was up all night…”  
“Same here,” Fuyuki raised a hand. “Ai and Jun were probably the same…”  
“Not me,” Jun shook his head. “I managed to get a little, so I’ll be all right for a while.”  
Ai, on the other hand… she went completely red. “I was… I was…”  
“Don’t tell us,” Michiko raised her hand. “Just say if you need to rest or not.”  
“I… don’t.”  
Fuyuki and Yosuke tilted their heads towards her.  
“Okay then… Who’s gonna be looking after this lot?” Daisuke asked, jerking his thumb towards the affected. “Honestly, they’re gonna be more of a handful than the last set. No offence.”  
Hikaru and Yuuma were visibly offended.  
“I don’t want him looking after me,” Nana said, raising her head up again. “I want someone less pathetic.”  
“Hey, I’m not…!”  
“To be fair,” Ryuu said, scratching his cheek. “I don’t even know what’s goin’ on with her. What’s excessive here?”  
Nana turned around, her motions slow and uncoordinated. She narrowed her eyes and hummed in thought.  
“… I’m hungry.”  
The confusion only grew.  
“Well… why don’t you take her, Satou?” Michiko turned to me. “You’re good with people, aren’t you?”  
“And she does tolerate you more than others,” Shizuka added. “Not by much, but…”  
“Um, well… I-I guess I can watch her…”  
“Ha-ha,” Nana mocked. “All mine, all mine… Your face is all scary now.”  
I turned around, and nearly cried.  
Hikaru stared at Nana with an expression I could only call murderous, like a shadow had fallen over his face and twisted him into something else.  
“Kimihara…” Michiko started.  
“I-I want her,” Hikaru growled. “I w-want, want Hazuki. Hazuki is, is s-safe...”  
“But I want her,” Nana pouted back. “She has to find out what’s wrong with me for everyone else, because no one else wants to bother with Nana. Nana’s annoying… and _weird_.”  
“Please, don’t argue…” I raised my hands towards both of them.  
“If it’s going to be a problem, then she won’t go with either of you.” Michiko stepped forward, looking down her nose at me.  
Did she think this was my fault…?  
“Sasaki, you were fine looking after Ikeda yesterday, so you can watch Kimihara now. You get along with him, right?”  
Ryuu nodded. “Sure do. Not worried about those contagious feelings, either, so you don’t have to worry 'bout me.”  
“Good, then that’s settled.”

I looked up at Hikaru. He wasn’t happy, but he didn’t protest when Ryuu walked over and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.  
“C’mon, fella. It’s not gonna be too bad, hey?”  
Hikaru only grumbled in response.  
“As for Nakano…” Michiko eyed Nana, who was staring at her with puppy eyes. “… Any volunteers?”

There was an awkward silence. There were only two of us who could really handle Nana for any extended time; Yuuma, who wasn’t in his right mind, and myself, who’d been forcibly removed from doing so. The others either couldn’t, or wouldn’t put up with her.  
“… I mean…” Kaoru slowly spoke, putting her hand up. “She doesn’t really _like_ me, but like, I don’t mind giving it a try…”  
Michiko gave Kaoru a once-over. “… Are you serious?”  
“Yeah, I am… Is that like, surprising, or whatever?”  
Nana’s head tilted towards Kaoru. She mumbled something incoherent, staring at her with no small amount of disgust. But she wasn’t outright protesting the decision, so Michiko nodded.  
“And what about the other two?” Setsuko asked. She looked at Keiji out of her peripheral; he hadn’t lost that strange, thoughtful look, but he’d directed it elsewhere.  
Quite firmly on Jun, actually.  
“I wouldn’t mind reversing the roles,” he said. Jun turned pink, his mouth hanging open in surprise. “But, only if you’re consenting, of course.”  
“I-If I’m… oh my…”  
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s such a good idea…” Emi interjected. Keiji looked over at her, something sharp appearing in his eyes.  
“You think I’m going to do something terrible to him?”  
“No, no!” she shook her head. “I think he’s gonna pass out! All the blood’s rushing to his head, just look at him!”

Jun was definitely starting to resemble a tomato. His cheeks, ears, even his neck were covered in a blush. He held his hand to his cheek, eyes diverted down.  
“I-I… I’m sorry, Keiji, but I have to agree with her…”  
Keiji sighed. “That’s a shame, but I understand. So if I can’t have Jun, who will it be instead?”  
“I handled Ai yesterday,” Setsuko said, unfolding her arms. “I can handle you.”  
Keiji shivered. “You did that on purpose.”  
The tiniest hint of a smirk appeared on Setsuko’s mouth.  
“All right, that… whatever that is, it’s all in order.” Michiko said, shaking her head. “Last is you, Watanabe.”  
Yuuma’s tapping on the back of his hand increased in speed and frequency. “Hang on, hang on. I’m onto something.”  
Shizuka sighed heavily. “Must you?”  
“Yes,” Yuuma replied. “Just let me stay in my room. I don’t need anyone hovering around me while I’m listening in.”  
“This is nonsense,” Shizuka turned to Michiko. “This is not paranoia, this is… insanity. First Takada prattles about insects, now him and whatever this is.”  
Michiko nodded. “Maybe his is a good idea. Just have someone nearby if he needs something… or tries to wander off.”  
“I’ll take care of it,” Ai offered. “He won’t get past me easy.”  
“All right. Now that we’ve got everything organized, we need to get them separate before Monokitty decides we’ve been together too long.”

The Accelerated guests and their chosen guards left slowly. Ryuu led Hikaru outside, followed by Yuuma and Ai. Keiji and Setsuko went the other way, circling the fountain and heading up to the second floor. Kaoru and Nana left last, slowly heading outside of the building once Nana decided what she really wanted to do.  
The rest of us closed our circle, and looked to Michiko.  
“I know Himura suggested regular check-ins,” she said slowly. “But the more I think about it, the worse that sounds. If only one person is staying around one of the affected, then if something happens…”  
“You can’t be serious,” Emi whispered. “You want to risk somebody dying just to make it easy to pin a killer?”  
“Would you rather risk somebody dying for another complicated trial? It’s harsh, but it could be so much worse.”

It was an awful thought. What was worse, everyone looked like they agreed with her.  
I, on the other hand… I couldn’t.  
“No.”  
Michiko and Shizuka both glared daggers at me. Once again, I was speaking against her… but no one else would.  
“I can’t justify it. I don’t want someone to get hurt… and leaving them alone makes it easier for someone to be hurt, not harder.”  
“None of them are that stupid,” Michiko spoke slowly, as if she thought I was that stupid. “That they’d risk getting caught when it’s that easy to identify them.”

“And what if somebody decides it’s easier to get away with killing _two_ people because no one else is checking in, huh”

Emi had said it, looking up at Michiko with a far sterner expression than ever.  
Michiko’s eyes widened. Her mouth hung open in shock.  
“I…”  
“You didn’t think of that, did you?” Emi asked. “Just like you didn’t think Suzume was capable of murder, either. How many mistakes do you have to make before you start thinking things through?”  
“How dare you speak to her like that!” Shizuka snapped, her hand slicing the air in threat. “You were just as happy to agree to it until Miss Satou spoke up! Are you just another pet hanging on her every word, like Himura and Nagasaki?”  
“Ouch.” Daisuke deadpanned.  
“You’d know a lot about being a pet, Shizuka! You’re Michiko’s, after all!” Emi snapped back, jumping to her feet.  
Shizuka gasped, taken aback. “H-how dare you-!”  
“Okay, that’s enough from all of you!” Daisuke stepped between them, raising a hand either way. “Fucking hell, you’re all acting crazy! Michiko, Shizuka, if you two don’t want to do the check-in, then fine, don’t! Maybe let the rest of us decide what we want to do! Now I’m gonna walk Emi back to the hotel so she can get some rest, like she said she needed!”

Michiko and Shizuka were speechless. Daisuke gestured to Emi, and the two walked around and left the building. Yosuke and Fuyuki exchanged a look, then quickly took off the same way.  
Michiko cleared her throat, her expression returning to a steely death glare, focused at no one in particular. “Well, if that’s what the opinion is… everyone can just do what they want.”  
Shizuka took her by the arm, leading her away towards the stairs.

I felt guilty, but at the same time, it had to be said. I was surprised Emi had been the one to get so riled up, but maybe she was still feeling the effects of the Rage Accelerator.  
Now that everyone else was gone, only Jun and I were left. He looked up at me, a gentle look on his face.  
“Well that was… something. Are you all right?” I asked him, and he nodded in return.  
“A little startled, but… yes, I am. Are you?”  
“I think so.” I said, wrapping my arms around myself. “I didn’t want to start an argument.”  
“Sometimes it’s necessary. I’m just glad the exchange was sorted out first…” Jun stood. “What do you plan to do?”  
“I don’t know…”  
“Well, if you have no plans,” Jun’s hands raised up, fidgeting in front of his chest. “Would you like to come to the restaurant with me? I haven’t eaten since last night, and all that terror’s left me very hungry.”  
I smiled up at him. “That sounds nice.”

\--

The weather had gotten worse while we were inside. The thunder clapped louder overhead, and lightning flashed in the distance. Jun looked up at the clouds as we walked; I was surprised to see him not scared in the slightest. In fact, he seemed… happy, that a storm was brewing.  
When I asked him, he told me why.  
“I’m hoping the water might bring some life back to the grounds here. Maybe something long sleeping will grow again.”  
“You’re pretty optimistic about that.”  
He smiled down at me. “It never hurts to be a little positive.”  
I smiled back. This was quite a shift from the blubbering mess he was yesterday.

As if reading my thoughts, Jun rubbed his wrist where the Excess Accelerator had been.  
“The bracelet… What did it feel like?” I asked gently. Jun took a slow breath, gathering his thoughts before his answer.  
“At first, it was weaker. Like it had to spend the time finding just what to do with me. After a while, all I could focus on was how frightened I was, of everything and everyone. The only thing I wasn’t afraid of was…”  
The answer was pretty clear. He’d all but clung to that person.  
“Keiji?”  
Jun smiled softly, his cheeks turning pink again. “It seems to be happening to a few of us; we’re finding one person we just… naturally trust, somehow. He knew just what to say and do to keep me from going mad.”  
The smile faded away to guilt. “I wish I could have returned the favour… but…”  
“He was… very forward with you.”  
“I know,” the pink turned to red. “I didn’t know how to react! He’s never said anything like that before!”  
I couldn’t help a laugh. I tried to cover it with the back of my hand, but the dirty look Jun shot me told me he’d heard it.  
“Well, I mean… I don’t really blame you. But I have to say, he did seem very… focused, on you? If that makes sense?”  
Jun opened his mouth for a moment. “Well, I… I couldn’t say for sure. The bracelets do work uniquely for everyone… And it wouldn’t be the first time another boy’s come onto me…”  
I stared up at him. “It’s happened before?”  
“Well,” Jun looked away, his expression flattening. “It usually happens before they realise I’m a boy.”

Oh. Well, it was true; Jun did have very feminine features. If I hadn’t heard his voice before I’d seen him, I probably would have assumed he was a girl too.  
“Do they get angry at you?”  
“Some of them do,” he said softly. “Some of them insulted me; apparently, it’s my fault they didn’t know right away, because of the way I look, or dress. Or even because of my Talent.”  
“Right,” I said, sarcastic, “because of course, only a girl would work with flowers?”  
“Exactly,” Jun smiled again. “But all of these things… they’re me, and I’m happy the way I am.”  
He said that, but… there was a shift in his posture. He was suddenly picking at one of his fingers, and his shoulders were much tighter than they were before.  
There was definitely a thing or two that Jun didn’t like about himself… but today wasn’t the time to bother him about it. He’d had a hard enough time already…

We made it to the restaurant, and were greeted with an unusual sight. Kaoru and Nana were sitting inside at one of the tables, and the dollmaker was shovelling a wide variety of snacks into her mouth.  
“Hey…” Kaoru greeted us as we walked over, watching Nana carefully.  
“What’s all this?” I asked, and she shrugged.  
“It’s like, really weird? She said she just wanted to eat, and she didn’t even like, say what she wanted to eat. She just grabbed all this out of the kitchen, came out here and started eating it.”  
“But, won’t this much food make her sick?” Jun asked, hand to his mouth. “She’s never eaten so much at once while we’ve been here…”  
Nana swallowed a mouthful of food, looking up at us. “I’m hungry, so I’m eating. What’s the big deal?”  
“You’re just… eating an awful lot of junk, all at once.” I said. Nana huffed.  
“It’s fine. If you’re hungry, you’re supposed to eat.”

I turned back to Kaoru, who just shrugged helplessly.  
“Anyway, aren’t you supposed to be staying away from me?” Nana asked, reaching for a bowl of jelly candies. “Won’t the painter get jealous, and cry that his girlfriend came to see me here?”  
“I’m not his-“  
“We just came to have something to eat; we didn’t know you two were going to be here.” Jun said, reaching for my arm. “And we’ll have to be quick, otherwise we’ll get everyone in trouble.”  
“Oh, that’s right, fifteen minutes,” Nana said, tilting her head back. “Okay, goodbye.”  
“Goodbye, Nana…”

Jun and I went into the kitchen.  
“Hopefully being in here won’t upset the rule…” I said, watching Jun look through the cupboards.  
“She really ransacked everything… I hope she’ll be all right. That's an awful lot of sugar..."  
There was a sudden, very loud crashing from the other room.  
Oh no.  
I ran back out of the kitchen. Some of the bowls from their table were on the floor, but more importantly…  
Kaoru had hurried Nana outside, the two of them on the end of the deck. Kaoru held Nana’s hair back in one hand, the other stroking her back.  
I hurried out, heading to Nana’s left. She hung over the barrier, her breathing shaky and eyes watering.  
“Nana? Are you okay?”  
“Did you get it all out, honey?” Kaoru asked, leaning to try and make eye contact with her.  
Nana didn’t answer, not at first. She stared off into the water, just catching her breath. The tears in her eyes built up, and started spilling down her cheeks.  
“Nana?”  
“I don’t… I don’t _understand_!” she suddenly wailed, her voice scratchy and pained. “What am I doing wrong!?”  
Kaoru looked up at me, then back to her. “Nana, sweetie, what’s the matter?”  
Nana pounded her fists onto the barrier, then buried her sobs into folded arms.  
“I don’t like it! I don’t!”  
She repeated it like a mantra. Kaoru sighed, looking up at me.  
“Look, you better go. I’m fine to look after her…”  
“Are you sure?” I asked. “She’s…”  
Kaoru nodded. “I know what this is like; she just needs to tire herself out, you know? Then she can talk about it. So you know, come find us later.”  
“Okay… I’ll do that. Take good care of her, Kaoru.”  
I turned back to Nana, still sobbing into her sleeves. “You can get through this, Nana. You’ll be okay.”  
She sniffled, but her breathing steadied just a bit. Just enough to know she’d listened.  
I went back inside the restaurant, finding Jun standing near the door.  
“How is she?” he asked, wringing his hands.  
“Sick,” I sighed. “And really upset. But, Kaoru said she knows what’s going on so... I guess we’re leaving it to her.”  
Jun looked past me, to the two on the deck. He sighed. “Poor Nana… I wish I could take it back from her. I asked Monokitty to let me keep it, but… it said no.”  
“You were going to keep it on?” I blinked. “Even with how bad it made you feel?”  
“Wouldn’t you?” He looked down at me. “I didn’t want anyone else to have to feel like… that.”  
I looked back at Nana, and I understood completely.  
“… You’re absolutely right.”

\--

Jun and I stayed in the kitchen for lunch; ham and cheese sandwiches, toasted to perfection and neatly cut. We talked quietly, about nothing in particular, until I noticed Jun had slowed right down to yawning.  
“I think you’d better get some sleep…”  
“I… I think you’re right…”

As we walked out, I noticed something strange. Kaoru and Nana were gone, but Nana had left Chouko behind on the table. I picked the doll up, examining her features more closely. She was clearly well-loved and never mistreated... which only made it stranger that Nana had forgotten her.  
Jun looked at the doll over my shoulder. He hummed softly, and I looked up at him.  
“What is it?”  
“Well, it’s… no, it’s nothing. I’m just tired…” Jun lifted his glasses, rubbing one eye. “You’ll be taking that back to Nana, right?”  
“Yeah,” I looked down at Chouko again. “She’ll probably freak out when she realises she left her behind.”  
As we made our way to the hotel, we both stared up at the sky on our way. The anticipation was growing painful, but the rain refused to fall.  
Come to think of it, that was how I was starting to feel about the next death. As much as I told myself there would be no more… I couldn’t truly believe it. I didn’t _want_ another murder to happen… but the waiting gripped my heart painfully tight.  
I hadn’t realised it, but I’d started stroking Chouko’s hair for comfort.  
As we arrived at the hotel, Jun turned around to me.  
“Yuuma was coming to stay here, wasn’t he? Maybe you should check on him... He shouldn’t keep holing himself up like that.”  
“Yeah, he shouldn’t,” I nodded. “I’ll come upstairs, see how he’s doing. Hopefully, he’s just fine.”

\--

When we got up to the third floor, Jun quietly bid me goodbye and hurried into his room. Ai was nearby, on the couches; she was facing Yuuma’s door, but she turned and smiled when she saw me.

“Morning, Hazuki.”  
“Good morning… How are you feeling?”  
She let out a heavy sigh. “Still pretty embarrassed about yesterday, but I’m sure I’ll survive.”  
“You were pretty embarrassed,” I agreed. “Especially about whatever you said, or did to Yuuma…”  
Ai narrowed her eyes at me. “Damn it, you want to know, don’t you?”  
“I really, really want to know.”  
“Well, you’re just gonna have to live with that.” She folded her arms, looking over at Yuuma’s door. “Because the only way you’re gonna find out is if he tells you.”  
I followed her look. “How is he, anyway?”  
“He’s been quiet since we got here. I’ve gone and knocked a couple times; he just says he’s ‘listening’ and doesn’t need anything.”  
“Do you mind if I check on him?”  
“Go right ahead,” she flourished her hand towards his door.

I knocked on his door three times before it cracked open. Yuuma peered out at me from the gap, looking extremely annoyed.  
“What do you want? You’re blocking the wavelength.”  
“I’m blocking… Never mind, I just wanted to see how you were doing.”  
“I’m fine. Why are you blocking it out?”  
I blinked. “What?”  
Yuuma reached out through the gap, poking me quite sharply on the forehead. I stepped away from him.  
“What was that for?!”  
“Go away,” he said, and the door was slammed shut.  
I blinked at the door. It seemed we were back to being rude. I turned away, rubbing my forehead where he’d jabbed me.  
“You okay?” Ai asked. She went to stand up, but I raised my hand for her to stop.  
“Yeah, I’m fine… So is he, I guess?”  
“Pretty much,” she shrugged. “He wants to be alone, so I guess just leave him.”  
“I guess so…”  
“So, I gotta ask,” Ai looked at my hand. “Why do you have Nakano’s doll?”

I looked down at Chouko. “Oh, that’s right. She left her in the restaurant earlier…”  
“She left it?” Ai raised an eyebrow. “She takes that thing everywhere. Why would she leave it?”  
“I don’t know, but she _did_ eat herself sick.”  
That just confused Ai even more. She sat quiet, her mind trying to make sense of Nana managing that act.  
“… What the hell’s been done to that girl?”  
“I don’t know. I’m going to see her either way; she’ll be upset when she can’t find Chouko.”  
“Fair enough,” Ai slumped in her chair. She looked tired, but not of the sleep variety. Just… tired.  
“If you want to check on Kimihara, he’s up in his room too. Sasaki brought him up same time as we arrived.”  
“How was he?” I asked. Ai gave me a once-over.  
“Hard to say. I don’t really spend a lot of time near the guy. That said, though, he did really want you looking after him…”  
I felt awkward, all of a sudden. Like I was being judged.  
“Is there a problem?”  
“No, not really… Just trying to keep up.” Ai shrugged, then settled back into her chair. “Maybe don’t check on him while you have that doll, though. He might get mad you saw Nakano first.”  
She had a point. I said my goodbyes, and headed downstairs.

I hadn’t been to the far side of the hotel in a few days. Nana occupied a back corner, far away from the people coming and going from the floors.  
I knocked on the door, and waited. I couldn’t hear anything from inside, but as I went to knock a second time, the door slowly opened.  
Kaoru was the one at the door, which was a good sign. I spotted Nana behind her, sitting on the floor at the base of her bed.  
“Hey, girl,” Kaoru smiled at me. “You came sooner than I thought.”  
“Well, I found this,” I held Chouko up. “She left her at the restaurant earlier.”  
“Ooh… that’s what it was. Something’s been bugging me ever since we left. Like, I _knew_ something was missing!”  
Nana looked up at me. “Chouko? Did you bring Chouko back?”  
Kaoru stepped aside, letting me cross the room to Nana. She held her hands up towards me; for once, her long sleeves were folded up to her elbows. Her skin was incredibly pale; when I placed Chouko in her hands, I realised their skin tones were almost identical.  
Nana cradled the doll to her chest. She tilted her head towards it, and looked up at me.  
“Chouko says… I mean, I… thank you, Hazuki.”  
“It was no trouble, Nana. Are you feeling any better?” I crouched down next to her. Nana mumbled, incoherent. She lowered Chouko to her lap, her head ducked down.  
One of her fingers tapped on the Accelerator, over and over.  
“I don’t feel like me.”  
“What’s wrong?” I placed my hand on her shoulder. Her head tilted away from it.  
“I’m hungry, and I’m tired, and I’m covered in eyes.”

I looked back at Kaoru. She shrugged helplessly.  
“What does… ‘covered in eyes’, mean?”  
Nana shook her head. “I don’t know how to say it like you would. I only know how to say it like me, and I’m…”  
I felt awful as she trailed off. She moved away from me, clambering onto her bed.  
“I want to try and sleep, please.”  
I stood up. “Okay, Nana. Try and sleep.”  
“Thank you, Hazuki… thank you, Kaoru.”  
Kaoru and I were both surprised. It was the first time Nana had referred to anyone but me by their first name.  
She looked over at me. “Well… come on, let’s let her rest.”

\--

Kaoru closed the door quietly when we were out.  
“I know I said we’d talk to her when she stopped crying, but like, she was really messed up when she couldn’t find her doll. Thanks for bringing that over.”  
“Well I couldn’t just leave it,” I shrugged. “Not when she means so much to Nana… Did you get anything else out of her?”  
Kaoru sighed, folding her arms. “Not with words, but… it’s kind of like this. She doesn’t… you know, do things everybody else does. Like, her brain doesn’t work the same way. So the bracelet’s making her like, think that’s a bad thing, and she’s trying real hard to act ‘normal’. But, you saw what happened earlier. Her body’s like, not made for it.”  
“So she thinks there’s something wrong with her?”  
“She thinks _everything’s_ wrong with her.”

That sentence broke my heart.  
“Oh, that’s awful…”  
Kaoru nodded. “Yeah. It really is. Hopefully the next Alarm doesn’t take all day, ‘cause I really don’t think she’d like… get that far before she really hurt herself.”  
“You think she would?”  
“I’m not gonna risk it. That’s why I grabbed this.”  
She held up an e-handbook, obviously not hers.  
“I’ll head back in, in just a sec. Do you know if someone else’s coming?”  
“Ah, about that…”  
Kaoru frowned. “Ugh, let me guess. Michiko decided against it _after_ Setsuko left.”  
When I nodded, she rolled her eyes.  
“ _God_ , she is such a bitch. Didn’t she care not telling us that put all eight of us in danger?”  
“I-I don’t think she didn’t care, it’s just…”  
“What, she’s scared? We’re all scared. Two of us have already died here; she should like, stop picking favourites before someone else gets hurt, you know?”  
It was a grim thought, and I was surprised to hear it from Kaoru. It must have been obvious, because she gave me an unimpressed look.  
“What, d’you think I’m an idiot?”  
“N-no… I’m just… surprised. Emi said something similar earlier, to Michiko’s face.”  
“Well, good,” Kaoru turned around, unlocking the door. “I’ll let you go, okay? I’m sure you’ve got stuff to do.”  
“Y-yeah… take care of her.”

Once the door was closed, I let out a heavy breath. It was barely halfway through the day, and everything felt completely turned on its head. I already wanted to go to bed and sleep until tomorrow…  
But I couldn’t just abandon everyone like that. I had to keep helping.  
I knew Nana was in good hands with Kaoru, and Yuuma was happy to keep to himself. Hikaru was upstairs with Ryuu, and Keiji, I assumed, had gone to the infirmary with Setsuko.  
Since I was already here, I decided to check up on Hikaru. After all, he’d wanted to stay with me to begin with. He’d probably be happy to see me.

\--

Ai glanced up at me when I passed her again, a playful smile appearing on her face. I didn’t say anything; she had way too much fun teasing me already.  
Hikaru’s room was the opposite to Yuuma, in the righthand corner. I knocked, and waited for a response.  
Just like with Yuuma, the door cracked open. But, when Ryuu saw who it was, he opened the door right up.  
“Hey, hey. Look who’s here!”  
“Hi, Ryuu…”  
Ryuu lowered his voice to a whisper. “If you’re comin’ to check on him… be real careful what you say, okay? And don’t mention Blogs like… at all.”  
“Daisuke?”  
“Shh! Yes, don’t mention Daisuke. The amount of shit I’ve already had to listen to about that guy… All right, c’mon in.”

Ryuu turned back into the room. I followed him in, closing the door quietly behind me.  
“Hikaru, wake up! Hazuki’s come to see you.”  
Hikaru’s room was incredibly neat. Even with him lying on his bed, the sheets were neatly made and barely wrinkled.  
He sat up slowly, blinking up at me.  
“You… y-you came to, to see me?”  
“Well, yes,” I smiled at him. “How are you feeling?”  
He grumbled. Ryuu flopped onto the bed beside him, jostling them both.  
“My, my head isn’t… isn’t in a-a good w-way. It, it’s l-like a-a headache… th-that won’t go away. Everything’s s-so loud…”  
“I’m sorry… It sounds terrible.”  
“I-it’s… a-annoying, but I’ll… I’ll manage.”

His expression shifted, looking worried about… something.  
“D-did anyone come up here with, with you?”  
“Huh?”  
“I-I mean… I-I’m prob, probably not making s-s-sense, again… I-I d-don’t w-want him following you anymore…”  
I froze. “… Who’s been following me?”  
Hikaru’s face twisted. He grit his teeth, his eyebrows sunk down into a brutal frown.  
“Th-that…”  
Ryuu shot up, waving his hands. “Nope, nope, nope! Stop!”  
“H-he’s-!”  
“I said nope!” Ryuu pointed at Hikaru, then over to me. “Did anyone come up with you or not?”  
“N-no, no one did… but, Ryuu…”  
“I know,” he said. “But right now… right now’s not a good time.”

With the way he nodded his head towards Hikaru’s left arm, things suddenly clicked in my head.  
Daisuke. It was Daisuke he was talking about.  
My blood ran cold. Why would Daisuke be following me around?  
Worse, I couldn’t even ask. Ryuu wouldn’t let Hikaru talk about it, at least not right now… so I had no choice. I had to wait until the Accelerator was traded to someone else.  
Hikaru was shaking. Ryuu rubbed his shoulder, trying to calm him down.  
“S-s-sorry, Hazuki… I’m s-sorry…”  
“It’s okay, you don’t have to apologise…”  
He kept shaking. Ryuu sighed, looking up at me.  
“Sorry, shorty, but it’s probably better if ya head off. I’ll look after this, okay?”  
“Okay… I’ll go.”  
Hikaru’s head lowered. “D-don’t… don’t w-worry about me… okay? I-I’ll be f-f-fine…”  
I didn’t quite believe him… but I trusted Ryuu to take care of him, and if I stayed, he’d only get more aggravated.  
So I said my goodbyes, and headed out of the room, making sure to close the door quietly.

I must have looked pale when I walked away, because Ai stood up from her seat, catching me before I went downstairs.  
“Whoa, are you okay? What happened in there?”  
“It’s… it’s nothing, I’m fine.”  
“Bullshit you are, you look like you’ve seen a ghost. Come here, sit down for a sec.”  
She directed me to sit down in her chair, crouching down in front of me.  
“C’mon, talk to me.”  
“Really, Ai, I’m fine… Everything’s fine.”  
Ai rolled her eyes. She grabbed me by the hands, making sure I was looking at her before she spoke.  
“Hazuki, we’re in the middle of a Killing Game, on a remote island, run completely by an animatronic A.I. shaped like a cat. Even if we weren’t, you wouldn’t be fine. Now stop trying to be polite, and talk to me.”

I was embarrassed. I didn’t want to say anything, because, well, I didn’t know all the facts yet. But Ai was insistent.  
So I told her.  
“Hikaru… said that someone… might be following me around. I mean, I don’t know for sure. I don’t want to say anything, I mean, I’ve never seen anything strange…”  
Ai’s face had gone completely stern. “Has anyone else said anything?”  
“N-no, no one has.”  
She sighed, lowering her head. She was quiet for a moment, then suddenly stood up.  
“Wait here,” she said. “I’m gonna sort something out.”  
“What are you doing?”  
“Just wait, okay?”  
She hurried off around the corner. I sat in silence, utterly confused.

She came back about five minutes later, Yosuke in tow. He was scratching the back of his head, but he didn’t seem angry, or even a little annoyed.  
She must have told him her plans.  
“All right,” she clapped her hands. “Yosuke will cover me, and I’ll cover you.”  
“I’m… sorry, what?”  
“You’re being stalked! You can’t tell me something like that and expect me to do nothing, I mean, come on!”  
I turned red. I looked over at Yosuke.  
“Did she tell you?”  
“Yeah, yeah she did,” he nodded. “And, c’mon, I agree with her. Things around here are bad enough without someone followin’ ya around.”  
“I-I just… It’s not a big deal, I don’t even know if it’s true…”  
“I’m not taking any chances,” Ai said. “And don’t ask me to, either.”  
I sighed. “… Okay, okay. Just for today, though.”  
Ai hummed, in a way that told me she was not, in fact, leaving it just for today. I stood up, swapping places with Yosuke.  
“Well, if you’re coming with me… I’m going to check on Keiji.”  
Ai shifted uncomfortably. “Oh. Okay.”  
“Are you going to be fine near the Accelerator again?”  
“Don’t know,” she said, turning towards the stairs. “Just… slap my hand if it goes anywhere near your butt.”  
I paused. I had another click.  
“… Is _that_ what you did to Yuuma!?”  
Ai’s sudden increase in speed down the stairs told me I was right.

\--

“Look, I apologised, and he just never wants to talk about it again. So you gotta do me a favour and stop talking about it.”  
“I’m sorry, it’s just… Yuuma, of all people.”  
“Just because he is an ass, doesn’t mean he can’t have a nice one- why am I telling you this."  
I couldn’t stop laughing about it, from the hotel to the main building. When we got to the second floor, however, I had to quiet down.  
Shizuka was standing by the entrance to the concert hall. When she saw Ai and I coming, her face twisted into utter disdain.  
“What are you two doing here? Are you not meant to be watching Watanabe?”  
“Traded with Yosuke,” Ai folded her arms. “What are you standing out here for?”  
“It is not any of your business,” Shizuka scoffed, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder. “But I am waiting for Michiko.”  
“What for? Why not just wait for her inside?”  
Shizuka rolled her eyes. She spoke very slowly, as if Ai were a toddler.  
“It is not any of your business.”  
Ai huffed. She walked past Shizuka, bumping her with her shoulder as she did. Shizuka gasped, glaring at her as she left.

After Ai disappeared into the infirmary, she turned on me instead.  
“How can you walk around with such a mongrel?”  
“Ai’s not a mongrel,” I frowned. “You insulted her first.”  
Shizuka rolled her eyes again. “I did not. I am not obligated to tell her what I am doing, so it is not my fault if she takes offence.”  
“But did you have to talk down to her like that?”  
Shizuka sighed. “Miss Hazuki, you really must stop coddling these people.”  
I couldn’t help it anymore; she was completely out of line.  
“I’m not ‘coddling’ anyone,” I said, walking around her. “And you need to learn some manners if you think I am.”  
I could _feel_ her anger rising behind me, but I didn’t look back. I just kept on walking, making my way into the infirmary.

\--

Things inside the infirmary were… weird.

It was calm. Keiji was sitting at the desk in the back of the room, reading one of the books he’d found days before. Setsuko sat on one of the beds, talking quietly with Ai.  
It all seemed very normal, which immediately put me on edge.  
I walked up. Keiji looked up first, flashing me a charming smile.  
“Good afternoon, Hazuki.”  
“Hi, Keiji. How are you feeling?”  
He chuckled. “Usually, that’s my line. I’m doing quite fine, thank you. What about you? How are you feeling?”  
“I’m fine, thanks…”  
I looked over to Setsuko. “Has everything been okay?”  
“He’s restrained himself well enough,” she answered. “Less hands, more euphemisms.”  
“I said I was sorry…” Ai grumbled.  
Keiji leaned on his hand. “I didn’t realise what a clever tongue our bodyguard friend had until now. The conversation has been intoxicating.”

Keiji was doing _things_ with his voice that he hadn’t done before. He’d always been a strictly professional person. I couldn’t help it; I could feel my cheeks turning pink.  
Keiji spotted it, tilting his head to one side.  
“Are you all right, Hazuki? You’re not feeling ill, are you?”  
“N-no, I’m fine…”  
“Are you sure? I’d be happy to check… I am, after all, very qualified for physicals.”  
“No, no! I’m fine, really, I’m fine!”  
“Come on, Haruno, knock it off,” Ai said, frowning at him.  
Keiji straightened up. “You’re right. I apologise, Hazuki; I shouldn’t tease you.”  
“It’s… it’s fine,” I tried to calm myself down. “I mean, you aren’t really yourself right now…”  
“That’s not an excuse,” he frowned. “Ugh, this is…”  
He shook his head, rubbing his forehead like he was trying to get rid of a headache.  
Setsuko gave him a careful look. “Are you all right?”  
“I’m fine, I’m… fine.”

Keiji took his glasses off, burying his face in a hand. He didn’t look fine at all. He looked terrible; he was covered in a thin layer of sweat, and his hands were shaking.  
“Keiji… you don’t look very well at all…”  
“Yeah, man,” Ai walked over, leaning down to get a closer look. “I know for a fact, you’re probably burning up right now.”  
“Unfortunately… yes.”  
Ai straightened up, turning back to me. “Let’s go get him some ice. You want anything, Himura?”  
Setsuko lay down on the bed, looking thoughtful.  
“They have these drinks in the games room bar… Inferno, I think they’re called? If there’s any left, I’ll have one of those, please.”  
“Sure thing,” Ai nodded. She stepped forward… and suddenly stopped, staring behind me.  
Immediately, I was scared. Was someone back there…?  
I had to look. I turned around… and saw nothing.  
“Ai…?”  
“It’s okay,” she said, quietly.  
“What’s going on?” Setsuko asked, her tone going professional.  
“Nothin’ you can worry about right now,” Ai raised her hand. “You’ve got to stay with Haruno, remember?”  
“You were meant to be watching Yuuma,” Setsuko countered.  
“Yeah, and I got Yosuke to cover me. There’s no one up here to cover you.”  
Setsuko grumbled, but Ai was right; the only one we’d seen on this floor was Shizuka, and she wasn’t going to do anyone any favours.  
Even if we hadn't talked back to her.  
“Look, it’s under control. If you still want to know, Hazuki can tell you about it later.”  
Setsuko gave me a look; she was definitely going to want to know later.  
She wasn’t going to be happy.

Ai left the infirmary first, looking around.  
“Ai, tell me,” I asked, once the door had closed behind me. “What did you see?”  
“I definitely saw someone,” she said slowly, quietly. “But I couldn’t tell ya who it was. Only caught a flash of colour.”  
“Colour?”  
“Could’ve been someone’s hair, or their clothes… I really can’t tell.”  
I must have looked terrified, because she reached over and ruffled my hair.  
“Don’t stress, okay? I’m not gonna rest ‘til we figure out who’s creeping on you.”  
I reached up to straighten my hair out.  
“Thanks, but… I really don’t want this to be a big problem. We have enough.”  
“Well. They should have thought of that before they started following you.”  
I sighed. “Why would someone follow me, of all people? I’m not that interesting…”  
Ai went quiet. I stared up at her, waiting for her answer.  
“… C’mon. Let’s go get these drinks before Haruno burns himself out.”

We didn’t get a chance.

The second Ai finished her sentence, the siren from this morning started blaring again. I instantly covered my ears.  
“Attention, attention! This is Monokitty’s Accelerator Alarm! All guests, please make your way to the fountain for the afternoon exchange!”  
“Well that was quick,” Ai said, one hand over her ear. “At least they don’t have to be overnight with these things…”  
“But the four that get them now…”  
“They’re going to have it rough, yes,” Setsuko appeared behind us, the breathless Keiji in tow. “But at least we’re prepared for it.”  
Ai gave the doctor a disturbed look. “Is he, uh… okay? How did he get that much worse? We were gone for like twenty seconds.”  
Keiji cleared his throat. “I’m sorry; I let my thoughts get carried away watching you leave.”

I suddenly felt the urge to pull my skirt lower.

“Okay, we really need to get the swap over with before you explode,” Ai said, turning back towards the exit. “Let’s get a move on.”  
She went on ahead of us; I kept my eyes on Keiji. To his credit, he caught himself before he stared _too_ long, taking off at a jog after her.  
Setsuko took two steps to my side. She looked down at me, something soft creeping into her face.

“You don’t have to tell me why,” she said quietly. “But if you need me to guard you, just ask.”  
I blinked up at her. It was an obvious answer to my problems… but still, I didn’t want to escalate it that much.  
“I don’t… I don’t really want anyone following me around… even just one feels like too many…”  
Setsuko folded her arms. I could see the gears turning in her head.  
“… I’ll have a word with Ai.”  
I didn’t know what that ‘word’ would be, but I felt a little better. At least I could count on Setsuko’s response being more professional. I thanked her with a smile, and we headed off down to the meeting.

\--

Monokitty waited impatiently on the fountain again. I heard a low growl rumbling out of it. As Setsuko and I circled the fountain, it glared up at us with its’ red eye.  
“What’s the big idea!?”  
“What’s wrong now?” Setsuko asked, standing between me and the cat.  
“Where is she!?”  
“What?” I looked over Setsuko’s shoulder.

Three of the four Accelerated guests were by Monokitty’s side; Yuuma, muttering something to himself while tapping a finger to his temple. Hikaru, glaring daggers towards the entry doors. Keiji, pulling at his collar in hopes of cooling himself down.

Nana was missing.

I made my way around to the front, looking around the rest of the group. I couldn’t see Kaoru either. My heart started to hammer in my chest. Where were they?  
Had something happened?  
I started towards the entry door.

“Where do you think you’re going!?” Monokitty shouted. “Hey! I’m talkin’ to you, kitten!”

I didn’t listen. I was only barely aware of someone moving behind me.  
Ryuu reached over my shoulder, shoving the door open. We didn’t get very far; Kaoru was already in sight, running towards the building as fast as she could.  
“Kaoru!”  
“What’s going on? Where’s Nana?”  
Kaoru skidded to a halt in front of us, doubling over to catch her breath.  
“I-I need… I need someone to, to come help me… She… Nana, she…”

My blood ran cold.  
“Is she okay!?” I ran outside. Kaoru looked up, forcing the words out.

“I can’t find her!”


	10. Chapter 2.4 - Daily Life: Cardiac Acceleration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the day continues, it grows harder and harder for Hazuki to keep calm among the Accelerators. It seems like things are only getting worse...

\--

“What do you mean, you can’t find her?”

My thoughts raced at a mile a minute. Nana was missing; how was Nana missing? Was she hurt… or worse?  
Kaoru managed to catch her breath, standing up straight. “I mean, I left her in her room for like, maybe a minute, and when I went back, the door was open, and she was just… gone!”  
“Why did you leave her alone!?” I asked, my fear raising my voice. I felt awful for snapping at her, but at the same time… she was supposed to look after Nana, and now…  
“I just went to the bathroom,” Kaoru shook her head. “It was like, too weird to use Nana’s, and anyway, I didn’t want to wake her up either…”  
“Okay then,” Ryuu said. “Nana’s missin’, let’s go find her. Worry about the ‘how’ and ‘why’ later, alright?”  
I looked up at him. He was so calm and collected; how could he be, when our friend was missing?

I heard the building doors open behind us. A few of the others had walked out – Setsuko, Ai and Fuyuki.  
“What’s going on? Where’s Nana?” Setsuko asked.  
“I-I don’t know,” Kaoru said, taking a step back. Like she was scared of Setsuko’s reaction.  
As for that reaction… there wasn’t one.  
Setsuko kept her same, stoic expression as she asked, “How long ago did she disappear?”   
“Not long,” Kaoru said, “Maybe like five ten minutes before the Alarm.”  
“Then she could be anywhere,” Ai said. “She’s squirrely.”  
“Not necessarily,” Setsuko folded her arms. “We didn’t see her on the second floor, and she would have had to go past anyone in the foyer to get up there.”  
“I was by the fountain that long ago,” Fuyuki said. “She didn’t come in.”  
“Kaoru, Ryuu, go back and check the hotel again. Hazuki, come with me and we’ll check the restaurant.”  
“What about me and Fuyuki?” Ai asked.  
“… Go back inside, tell the cat what’s going on. Or, no… tell it a guest may have been murdered.”

I froze. “Y-you don’t think she’s…”  
“The time frame is too small,” Setsuko said, shaking her head. “But saying that might give us more time, if Monokitty’s excited for a trial. And the more time we waste talking, the more chance there is that it _could_ happen.”  
“Then let’s go already,” Ryuu hurried off towards the hotel. Kaoru ran after him, while Ai and Fuyuki went back inside.  
Setsuko spared me a quick look before she hurried towards the restaurant. I rushed after her, trying to keep my breath steady.  
It was bad enough thinking someone had hurt Nana, but I remembered what Kaoru had said before… about Nana possibly hurting herself.  
She wouldn’t… would she?  
It was hard to keep up with Setsuko, thinking like that. But she was a lot more athletic than I was, so maybe I’d have trouble no matter what.

She reached the restaurant before me, but she waited at the door until I caught up.  
As soon as we walked inside, we knew someone was there. I heard sounds coming from the kitchen; cookware rattling, as if someone was moving a lot of plates. Then splashing.  
Dishwater?  
Setsuko went in first, and I followed her closely. When we reached the kitchen door, she slowly pushed it open…

Nana looked over at us from her spot. She seemed perfectly fine – or, well, as fine as the situation allowed.  
“What are you doing in here?” Setsuko asked her.  
“Cleaning the mess I made,” Nana replied. Sure enough, she was by the sink, full of dishes in need of washing. “Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do?”  
“It’s polite, yes, but you scared a lot of people. Didn’t you hear the Alarm?”  
Nana turned back to the water. “… I don’t think it matters if I take it off now.”  
“You don’t?” I asked, walking over to her.  
“Well, I won’t forget,” she said slowly. “I’ll remember how much of a bother I am. So even if I don’t have the Accelerator on, it won’t change anything. So I’ll just keep it.”  
“But, Nana…”  
“Isn’t that a nice, normal thing to do?” she looked up at me. There was something sad and desperate in her eyes… what was she really trying to do here?  
“It would be,” I said slowly. “But, you’ve forgotten the rules… You can’t keep it, not without asking.”  
Her face fell.  
“Monokitty made it explicitly clear,” Setsuko stepped in. “When the Alarm sounds, the Accelerators have to be exchanged.”  
“B-but I…”  
“You can’t keep it without permission.” Her tone implied no argument. Nana made a soft, miserable noise, looking down at our feet.  
“Nana… it’s okay. You meant well, but we need to hurry.”

The noise repeated. Setsuko sighed.  
“We don’t have time for this…”  
She took Nana by the hand. She didn’t look up, but she didn’t resist when Setsuko lifted her arm up either.  
I gasped as I realised what Setsuko was doing.  
She took the Accelerator off of Nana’s arm, and clipped it to her own wrist.  
“Setsuko, wait!”  
Setsuko closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.  
“It’s the easiest path. It gets the Accelerator to the swap, and it gets Nana out of her head. I don’t mind wearing it for a moment.”  
“B-but, Monokitty…”  
“It will be mad,” she agreed, “but this is a loophole. I’m only a middleman to the transfer.”

Nana looked up, her sad expression faded to her usual, grouchy self.  
“Okay,” she said in a low tone, “why are you standing around here, then?”  
Setsuko opened her eyes. “We need to go, yes.”  
Nana flinched at the shift. She pushed her way past us, heading out of the kitchen.

She still wasn’t acting like herself. But I didn’t have time to follow her; Setsuko took hold of my hand. “We need to go, now.” She said. “… Don’t we?”  
I looked up; why was she asking me?  
“Oh… I guess we should. Okay, let’s go.”  
Setsuko didn’t move. She just stood there… staring at me. I had to move first, leading her by the hand out of the kitchen.

\--

“ _YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY SHITTING MY LITTERBOX!_ ”

We were greeted by that shrieking voice when we returned to the fountain.  
“How dare you! You think you can work my rules around your fingers like you’re some _HOT FUCKING SHIT_!? _GIVE ME THAT BRACELET, NOW!_ _IT’S NOT FOR **YOU**!_”  
Setsuko let go of my hand.  She looked up at the TV screen; three of the four names had already been printed. We’d almost missed the entire exchange looking for Nana.  
Hikaru had passed the Rage Accelerator onto Yosuke, who had put himself on the other side of the room from everyone else, and Yuuma had given the Paranoia Accelerator to Shizuka.

She stood at Michiko’s side, giving everyone else a hostile glare. Which was, honestly, pretty normal for her.

Nana’s Accelerator was meant to be given to Kaoru. She approached us, her face apprehensive as she twisted her hair around her fingers.  
Setsuko had no hesitation. She was the picture of obedience, to the point of putting the Accelerator on Kaoru’s wrist herself.  
“I’m sorry,” I heard her whisper. “But I have to do as I’m told.”  
Kaoru swallowed, staring at the garish bracelet on her arm. I was nervous, remembering things she’d said earlier. Was she going to react as badly as Nana…?  
“ _FINALLY_! Now we can finish this shitshow before my vet’s appointment!” Monokitty huffed. “I tell ya, I could’ve just punished the lot of ya and been done with it. But that’s no fun, no fun at all! All we need to do is pop that Lust Accelerator off of Dr. Sex Pest here,”  
Keiji coughed. He looked even worse than the last time I saw him.  
“And pop it on our next victim! So who’s it gonna be, who’s it gonna be!?”  
We all looked up at the TV, watching the next name written out beside Keiji’s.

My heart skipped a beat. It couldn’t be…

That was _my_ name on the board. ‘Hazuki Satou’, clear as glass.  
Of course I’d have had to wear one eventually… but I was hoping for anything but Lust.

But I didn’t have a choice. I dragged my feet over to the fountain, where Keiji was sitting, still breathing heavily. Jun was there beside him, a hand on his shoulder for support.  
“I’m sorry, Hazuki,” Keiji said, his voice trembling. “I’m probably making you a lot more worried about wearing this…”  
“It’s not your fault,” I replied, looking at Monokitty out of the corner of my eye. I held out my hand for the bracelet; Keiji fumbled with the clasp, until finally, Jun stepped in and unclipped it for him.

When I put it on, I was amazed by how well it fit. Keiji’s wrists weren’t anywhere near as thin as mine, but there was no discomfort at all.  
It didn’t seem so bad, actually… I didn’t feel much different. Maybe a little warmer, but… nothing _bad_.  
“Well, there we go! Have fun, kittens, because I sure will! _NYA-HA-HA_!”

Monokitty disappeared. Setsuko stepped forward, looking over at Michiko.  
“Well, Michiko?” she said, her voice strangely cold. “What’s your plan this time?”  
“Why the hostility, Himura?” Michiko frowned.  
“No one but Hazuki and Ai came past the infirmary to check on Keiji. You’re in charge, so I assume you changed the plan after we left. You decided to risk the safety of everyone involved.”  
Shizuka suddenly stormed forward.

I don’t think anyone expected the slap.

Setsuko turned her head back, barely reacting to it. She was so cool…  
Shizuka, on the other hand, was almost feral.  
“Do not dare to speak to her like that, vermin! You are a servant by design, perhaps you should act like it!”  
Setsuko stared her down. Michiko stepped forward, pulling Shizuka back by the arm.  
“Calm down, it’s okay. Let’s just go.”  
“Yes, that is wise,” Shizuka turned to her. Her mood changed; she looked at Michiko with dreamlike affection. “You are the only one worthy of trust. A blooming rose, in a nest of whores and vipers…”  
Michiko’s cheeks tinged pink, but she didn’t spare us another glance. She and Shizuka walked off towards the stairs, heading for the second floor.

“Typical,” Yosuke scoffed from his spot across the room. “Those bitches are always gonna put themselves above us…”  
Ai rolled her eyes. “So, I guess we’re fending for ourselves again, huh?”  
“I guess so…” Ryuu sighed. “Honestly, this is startin’ to get old. When do we get to stop passin’ these things around?”  
“However long it takes Monokitty to get bored,” Fuyuki said, polishing his sunglasses on his coat.

I stopped paying attention to their talking. My ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton, and my skin was starting to feel too hot to be normal.  
And I couldn’t stop looking at everyone… like I was seeing them for the first time, in a whole new way. Somehow it hadn’t quite clicked before; how beautiful everyone on this island was, in their own way.  
While I was standing there, I noticed Keiji and Jun stand from the fountain. Keiji still seemed out-of-sorts; I finally understood what was making him so uncomfortable. Men did have a very… prominent, physical reaction. But I suppose he excused himself, leaving the building along with Jun before I could offer to help.  
… Why would I offer to help? That wasn’t… like me, was it?

My body felt even hotter.

I looked back at the others. There seemed to be some kind of disagreement. Ryuu had Kaoru in his arms, resting his chin on the top of her head. She looked miserable; it was a terrible look on her lovely face. But, of course, Ryuu would take charge of her.  
As for the argument, it was between four people; Setsuko, Daisuke, Ai, and Hikaru. Emi and Fuyuki stood to the side, their eyes occasionally flicking in my direction. That wasn’t a good sign at all.  
I forced myself to pay attention again.

“… you can’t just accuse us of something like that!” Daisuke said, pointing a finger at Setsuko.  
“Am I supposed to blindly trust you, then?” she fired back. “I’ve seen the way you two act when it comes to her. The last thing I should do is leave her alone with you when she’s… like that.”  
“Well, what the heck did I do?” Ai asked.  
“You’ve already been affected by the Accelerator. It’s not your fault, but-“  
“Well, well y-you’ve been around it since y-yesterday…” Hikaru said. “Y-y-you c-could be even, even worse affected th-than her…”  
Setsuko’s cheeks flushed. “I-I wouldn’t do anything to her.”  
“And we’re supposed to ‘blindly’ trust you?” Daisuke shook his head. “Don’t be such a hypocrite!”

“Jeez, guys,” Emi cut in. “If none of you can agree who should watch her, then I’ll do it!”  
The four of them turned on her, but no one said anything. To her credit, Emi didn’t even bat an eyelash.  
“Think about it,” she said, showing them a little graph in her notebook. “All four of you have too many reasons _not_ to be left alone with an inhibition-free Hazuki. I, on the other hand, am firmly on friendly terms with her! So no harm done!”  
“I don’t mind who takes me,” I said softly. Everyone was looking at me, now. “I’ll do whatever you guys want…”

There were more than a few red faces after that.

“… All right, Ginger,” Ryuu said. “I think ya got a good idea there.”  
“Yeah,” Fuyuki agreed, nodding. “You haven’t been around that bracelet at all, either.”  
Emi nodded. “See? I’m a great fit!”  
The main four protesters watched her as she walked through the middle of them, over to me. She gave me a big smile.  
“Let’s go upstairs, okay?”  
I nodded. “Whatever you want, Emi.”  
Her smile shifted slightly, almost a smirk. Like she’d just figured something out about me… I mean, I wasn’t exactly hiding it very well.  
She gestured towards the stairs, and we started walking away. I looked back over my shoulder; most of the others had gotten back to talking, but…  
Daisuke was still watching me, something different in his expression. I smiled at him, which seemed to set him off balance. He gave me a crooked smile back, then turned around to the rest.

If only I could tell what he was thinking.

\--

Emi took me up to the wardrobe, sitting me down on one of the chairs by the make-up mirrors. She stood behind me, fluffing her fingers through the curls at the end of my hair. I closed my eyes, subconsciously leaning into her.  
“Gosh, Hazuki, you’re like a little kitty cat,” she laughed at me. “Or is it just the bracelet making you act like this?”  
“I don’t really know…” I admitted. I looked at myself in the mirror – I didn’t even feel the flush in my cheeks. “I guess I do like to be taken care of… and petted, too…”  
Emi hummed. She took the seat beside me, pulling her notebook seemingly out of nowhere. She flipped to a random page, scribbling something down.  
“Has everything been okay today? I had to get some sleep, so I missed everything until the Alarm went off.”  
“It was… kind of difficult,” I said, “I went to see everyone. Yuuma locked himself up all by himself, so he was okay… Hikaru was very upset about something in particular, and Nana… poor Nana had the worst of it.”  
Emi’s face softened. “Did she? I mean, she and I don’t really talk at all, but she doesn’t seem like she deserves anything awful happening to her…”  
“It really was awful,” I shook my head. “And what’s worse, she’s not going to forget how it made her feel…”  
“Poor thing,” Emi sighed. “This is getting out of hand real fast… How are you feeling?”

I turned to her. “I… I don’t know. Kind of warm, I guess? I don’t know what I’m supposed to be feeling…”  
Emi hummed, tilting her head one way, and then the other.  
“I guess it’s different for everyone… Ai was more internal, but Keiji was super physically affected…” she mumbled, writing in her book again.  
“What are you writing down?” I asked her.  
“Oh, nothing important,” she waved a hand. “Just putting a few extra notes on your page.”  
“What’s on my page these days?”

Emi hesitated. “Well… it’s probably not something I should tell you right now. Maybe ask me after the bracelet swap?”  
“Can’t you tell me now? I really want to know…”  
“No, no,” she shook her head. “I’m not gonna get in trouble for giving you ideas!”  
I pouted at her. Emi just shook her head again.  
“Okay… I’ll be a good girl.”  
“Sheesh, Hazuki… You really gotta think about what you’re saying while you’re like this. It’s coming out all wrong.”  
“Is it? I’m just talking normally… aren’t I?”  
She shook her head. “Not really.”

My stomach twisted. This was awful – I couldn’t even trust my own brain anymore?

“Hey, you okay?” Emi asked, tapping me on the shoulder. “Do you need anything?”  
“I… I wouldn’t mind something to drink. I mean, if that’s okay…”  
“It’s fine!” she stood up. “What do you want me to get?”  
“Just water, please…”  
Emi nodded. “All right. Wait here, and I’ll be right back.”  
“Are you sure?” I looked up at her. She laughed.  
“I mean, the bar’s only across the hall. I’ll be in and out in two minutes, tops! Don’t worry!”  
I still wasn’t sure, but I decided to trust her. I nodded, and she hurried off out of the wardrobe.

I felt awkward, all by myself. I fidgeted on my seat, trying to convince my body to cool itself down. Then I heard the door again. Emi couldn’t have been that fast, could she?  
Whoever it was, their footsteps were too quiet to be her. So I looked up.  
“Hey,” Daisuke whispered, “Come with me for a sec. I wanna show you something I found.”  
Before I said a word, he held his hand out to me.  
I didn’t think about it for long. He smiled at me, and it made me knees weak. I took his hand, letting him pull me up and lead me out of the wardrobe.  
We crossed to the other side of the floor, walking into the concert hall. As we walked down the aisle past the chairs, I looked around for Shizuka and Michiko. Shizuka had all but claimed this place as hers the other day, so it was weird that she didn’t come here.  
Daisuke helped me up onto the stage. We kept going, into the backstage area. I hadn’t had a chance to look around here before; I didn’t even know if there was anything behind the stage.

There wasn’t anything unusual back there. Past the ladders to the lighting catwalk was a small hallway with a few doors.  
“Most of these are locked,” Daisuke explained, stopping at the second door on the left. “But this one’s open. Check it out.”  
He opened the door, and walked inside. I followed after him, looking around.  
It was a dressing room. On the left side, there was a vanity similar to the ones in the wardrobe, its lights switched on and bright. On the right side, a rack of costumes, and surprisingly, a small camping cot.  
“When did you find this?” I asked. Daisuke looked down at me.  
“This morning,” he said softly. “Wandered around for a bit while everyone was busy.”

He let go of my hand, raising his own to my cheek. His face grew serious; like he wanted to say something… or do something.  
I blinked up at him. “Daisuke?”  
He suddenly grabbed me in a tight hug. I gasped, realising how snugly we were pressed together.  
“I don’t… know what I’m thinking.” He said softly in my ear. “What am I doing?”  
I turned my head, resting against his shoulder. “It’s okay… Do what you want with me. I don’t mind at all.”  
“Don’t say stuff like that,” he scolded me. “God damn it… I don’t…”

I felt my heart skip when I noticed, in the mirror. Behind the reflection of Daisuke hugging me…  
Suzume had appeared. But this wasn’t like those other times; she wasn’t all burnt up, or smiling smugly at me.  
She looked… afraid.

“Let go,” she whispered. “You have to let go.”

I tensed up, but I… I didn’t _want_ to let go…  
“What am I doing, Hazuki?” Daisuke asked, his voice shaking. “I don’t… want to be like _this_.”  
“Daisuke – “

“What the hell do you think you’re doing!?”

The next minute happened so quickly. Someone yanked me away from Daisuke, and once I was out of his way, that person was pushing him further away from me.  
I shook my head, bringing myself around to what was happening. Emi was next to me, holding my arm and shoulder. And the one that had pulled me away from Daisuke…

That was Hikaru. I couldn’t see his face, but I could see Daisuke’s, and he looked worried… and annoyed, at the same time.  
“Are you some kind of psycho!?” Emi shouted past the painter. “Why would you do something like this!?”  
“I wasn’t doing anything,” Daisuke protested.  
“Y-you took h-her without, without a-anyone knowing wh-where… Y-y-you tried t-to…” Hikaru growled at him. His shoulders raised up, tensed with rage.  
“I wasn’t doing anything!” Daisuke insisted. “I just wanted to talk to her!”  
“Y-you can t-talk to her without…”  
“Stop it… stop it, please!” I snapped. I struggled away from Emi’s grip. Hikaru turned around, his anger turning to worry instead.

“Stop… stop arguing! I… I don’t want everyone fighting… Not because of me…”

“Th-this isn’t b-because of you, Hazuki…” Hikaru shook his head. “This is, is h-his doing…”  
Daisuke growled, crossing his arms. “As if you’re her fucking white knight. You wouldn’t have gotten here that fast if you weren’t sniffing around for the same thing.”  
“D-don’t t-talk about me like – “  
“Stop it!” I snapped at them again. “Just stop it, okay? It’s fine… Nothing happened. It’s fine.”  
“Hazuki…” Hikaru said softly.  
“It’s fine.” I repeated. He opened his mouth, but there was no more room for argument. I turned away, hurrying out of the room.  
Emi followed me, looping her arm with mine to keep me close. “What were you thinking!? I told you, I’d only be gone for two minutes!”  
“I’m sorry… He asked me to.”  
“You don’t have to do something just because a guy asks you to.” She scolded. “Jeez, this bracelet’s really bringing out your submissive side.”  
I felt myself go red. “Oh… you figured that out.”  
“Please, Hazuki,” Emi huffed. “I figured it out the first time you opened your mouth.”

\--

Instead of going back to the wardrobe, Emi took me into the games room. She started talking at me about how terrified she was when I was missing, that Hikaru was the first person she ran into when she went looking.  
What I wanted to know was… how did they know where to find us?

“Oh, ‘cause Ryuu told Daisuke about those back rooms yesterday. You were out getting drinks at the time; Ryuu said something about the catwalk ladder, Daisuke asked where it was, et cetera.”  
“So… why did you look there?” I asked slowly. Emi gave me a funny look.  
“Well… ‘cause… I mean, I don’t _really_ think he would, but… well…”  
I stared at her. Did she think he was going to… use me?  
“I didn’t wanna take any chances, okay? And it was the first place I thought of, ‘cause not everybody knows about that spot yet, and, well, he’s been acting funny about you lately...”

I looked down at my hands. I thought about Daisuke; I couldn’t picture him hurting me… and, really, I’d be happy to do whatever he asked me to.  
I remembered the feeling of his hands on me, and the sight of his crooked smile.  
Would it be such a bad thing…?

“Hazuki!”

I snapped my head up, seeing Emi give me a frustrated look.  
“Emi?”  
“I _said_ ,” she huffed. “Start being more careful, even when you’ve got the Accelerator off. And especially when you have it on!”  
“With Daisuke?”  
“With everybody!” she threw her hands up. “I didn’t even want Hikaru to get near you, but he’s a lot faster than he looks!”  
Hikaru _was_ fast, especially for someone so tall, in that big jacket… but I’d seen what he looked like without it, too. My thoughts drifted off again; I could _almost_ picture him without…  
“Hazuki.” Emi deadpanned. “I know what you’re doing. Stop that.”  
I giggled, blushing. “S-sorry, Emi…”  
“I swear,” she shook her head. “You’re as bad as the girls I went to school with. Completely off in your own head, ignoring any and all red flags…”  
“Are there any?”

She hummed, thinking it over.  
“Well, _aside_ from sneaking you off when you’re not in a sensible mindset, to a secret room only a few people know about? Anything besides that?”  
I looked away from her again. I thought about Suzume, in the mirror. Why had she appeared without her injuries…?

Maybe she wasn’t talking to me this time?

“Emi… I have a different question.”  
“Okay, shoot.” She said, finally putting a bottle of water in front of me.  
As I unscrewed the cap, I asked her.  
“Do you… do you believe in ghosts?”

Her eyebrow went up. “… Ghosts?”  
“Yeah.”  
I took a large drink from the bottle. Emi waited until I was done.  
“I mean… I’ve never seen one. So it’s a little hard to think they exist… how come?”  
“It’s… going to sound crazy, but…” I paused, trying to swallow my fear of the memory.  
“Sometimes I… I see Jirou, and Suzume. In mirrors, when I’m alone… And most of the time, they look… bad.”

Emi was quiet, patient with me while I explained the gory details. Her face paled a shade when I told her how they’d looked; Jirou, bent and broken and moving unnaturally, while Suzume was covered in blistering wounds and burn scars. I told her the cryptic things they’d said… and about now, seeing Suzume unharmed in the dressing room vanity.  
When I was done, she let out a long breath.  
“Okay… Well… it could be ghosts, sure…” she spoke slowly. “But… it could also be that thing. What’s it called… Post-traumatic stress, that’s it.”  
“Post-traumatic stress?”  
“Well, you wouldn’t be the only one,” she admitted. “I talked to Keiji, and he said a few others were showing signs. Setsuko, especially, and Nana, and… well, Daisuke too.”  
I blinked, confused. “Daisuke?”  
Emi nodded. “So, maybe talk to Keiji. When he’s rested, and you’re not… doing the thing.”  
“The… thing?”

Mentioning Keiji made me picture his sorry state at the exchange. Now that I thought of it, maybe Jun had offered to… help him out…

“Yeah,” Emi rolled her eyes. “That thing.”

\--

Emi seemed to think it was for the best to keep us moving. We left the games room when Yosuke turned up, leaving him with a cheerful smile that he could actually play some billiards. Fuyuki and Ai had laid claim to the wardrobe since we left; I got a good look at Ai’s back muscles thanks to the dress Fuyuki was tying her into before Emi ushered me away.  
She refused to take me back into the concert hall. I didn’t have to ask why. The infirmary didn’t sound like any fun to hang around in, either.

We tried to go into the garden, but that was where Michiko and Shizuka were hiding.

It felt like intruding on a photo shoot, or a movie being filmed. Michiko was sitting on one of the benches, and Shizuka had lay down beside her, resting her head on Michiko’s lap. We couldn’t hear what Shizuka was saying, but it had put a shy smile and blush on Michiko’s face.  
Emi cleared her throat, not loud enough for them, but for me. “Let’s leave them alone.” She whispered, and we hurried off.

In the end, we tried the dance hall on the first floor. We never really came here unless Monokitty told us to gather there, but that made it a great spot for quiet.  
Emi decided to show me some of her notes; nothing on me, despite my asking, or even about anyone at the resort with us.  
Instead, it was more of a template. To make a successful match, she had to notate several different facets of a person; it wasn’t just about what they wanted in a partner, but what they _needed_. She’d said something similar days ago, using Ryuu and Kaoru as an example. So, she paid attention to anything and everything people did.  
“For example,” she said, opening up a new page. “Say, someone like Yuuma. He likes to act tough, and doesn’t think he needs anybody. Which is fake, but whatever, that’s what he thinks. So, his ideal partner is someone who understands he likes to be independent, but not like… abandoning him when he _is_ vulnerable.”  
That made sense… I supposed, anyway.  
“But then there’s other outcomes,” Emi continued on, writing the anecdotes down. “Different person for example, uh… let’s say… Ai. Ai’s kinda similar to Yuuma; she likes taking care of herself, and that extends to other people.”  
“That’s very true,” I agreed, remembering this morning. She didn’t hesitate to keep an eye on me, even though I didn’t ask her to.  
“So, someone good for her is someone she can take care of, right?”  
“… Yes?”  
“No,” she shook her head. “Her personality’s way too strong for that. She doesn’t need someone she has to take care of, but instead, someone she can rely on to do the same for her.”  
“Wow, Emi,” I said, watching her fly through these notes. “You really are good at reading people…”  
“Well, you’re not too bad at it yourself,” she said, smiling at me. “You’re good at picking up on emotional stuff.”

I smiled back at her; her compliments made my spine tingle in a funny, but good way. “I mean… I try my best…”  
“I’m glad you do,” Emi said, scribbling something else in her book. “And it sucks that people keep trying to mess with that.”  
We fell into an awkward silence.  
“… What about physical stuff?” I asked slowly. “Do you have to think about that sort of stuff when you matchmake?”  
Emi sighed dramatically, rolling her eyes. “Well, gold star for trying to be innocent about it. But it’s really not that different to my usual process, and I don’t include that stuff unless the person I’m matching is comfortable talking about it.”  
“But doesn’t that cause problems if you don’t know?”  
“Well, I mean,” Emi shrugged. “They don’t have to _tell_ me for me to know. After all, you never told me you’re a submissive type, but I know.”  
I could feel every bit of my skin go red.  
“Have you… have you picked up on anyone else’s… you know, stuff?”  
“Their ‘stuff’? Hazuki, I know you’re kind of goofy in the brain, so I’ll just say this.” She tapped me on the nose. “Other people’s ‘stuff’ isn’t for me to tell everybody. I mean, how would you feel if I ran around telling everyone about your ‘stuff’?”

I had to try and clear my mind to think about it. The longer the time had passed, the harder it was to concentrate on anything but… things. My skin prickled every time something touched me, my throat felt dry, and I was still so warm all over.  
I moaned a little, rubbing my forehead. “I… guess I wouldn’t like that, no…”  
“You don’t look so good,” Emi worried. “Do you need some more water? I can run upstairs and get a bottle, if you promise not to move this time.”  
“I’m… No, I should be okay, thank you…”  
She put her hand on my forehead. “Oh, Hazuki! You’re completely burning up!”  
“Am I…?” I blinked at her. “I don’t feel like I am…”  
“No, this is bad! Stay right here, don’t go with anybody, I’m going to get Keiji!”  
“But, Emi…”

Emi didn’t wait any longer. She got up, sprinting out of the hall as her chair was knocked to the floor. I sighed, standing to pick it up and push it in to the table.  
My legs felt like jelly the whole time. Maybe I was feverish… I put myself back in my chair before I couldn’t support myself anymore.

“Ahem.”

I nearly jumped out of my chair.  
Monokitty pottered out from under the table, looking up at me.  
“You seem to be strugglin’ a bitten, kitten! Feeling a little… overstimulated?”  
“Y-you… what do you want now?” I asked. Monokitty sighed.  
“Oh, nothing, nothing. Just checking if I need to tweak the settings a little! I tell ya, it’s so hard to get a universal mode on these things!”  
“Are you… talking about the Accelerators?”  
Monokitty eyed the bracelet on my arm. “See, I already had to boost it up a bit to get any kind of response out of the doctor, but it’s more than halfway to full, and you look more like you want to spit up a hairball than have a little pants-free fun! What’s up with that!?”  
“Well, maybe you should turn it back down…”  
“Hmm, no. Don’t think so!”  
“Well, what if I say please?”

The cat cackled madly. “Normally, I’d change my mind! But you’ve been pissin’ me off lately, so it’s still no!”  
“Hazuki! We’re back!”  
Monokitty and I both looked at the door; Emi had returned, with Keiji and Jun in tow. The cat growled, then disappeared back under the table.  
“What was it doing here?” Jun asked when they came over to me.  
“Making fun of me, I think…” I said. Keiji stood in front of me, and put his hand on my forehead. He hummed and frowned.  
“You weren’t joking…” he said quietly. “I’d better look at this properly. Do you mind if I take her to the infirmary for a moment, Emi?”  
“At least you’re asking,” Emi said. Keiji looked at her funny, so she waved her hand. “Go ahead, go ahead!”

\--

As soon as we cleared the stairs, I was already leaning on Keiji for support. I could barely even feel my legs anymore. He walked us into the infirmary, and helped me sit on one of the beds closest to the door.  
“One second,” he said, heading to the back of the room. I heard him rummaging around a cupboard, looking for something I could only imagine.  
Nothing sinister, I discovered when he returned; just a thermometer, a plain medicine packet, a plastic cup and a bottle of water. He put them down on the moving table, keeping only the thermometer in his hands.  
“I know this all comes down to your physical response to the Accelerator,” he explained quietly. “I wasn’t very different, myself. But we’ll see if you’re in the danger zone, and go from there.”  
I nodded. He held the thermometer up.  
“Open, please.”

I obeyed the instruction, allowing him to put the thermometer in my mouth. After a few seconds, it beeped, and Keiji checked the result.  
“Hm… Not the worst it could be, but still, not something we should ignore.”  
He put the thermometer down and picked up the medicine packet.  
“You’re not allergic to ibuprofen, are you?”  
I shook my head. “No, I’m not. I don’t think I’m allergic to any kind of medicine…”  
“That’s good,” he said with a smile, “Are you allergic to anything else? Animals, or food?”  
I popped the pills into my mouth, and swallowed them with the water. “Umm… ugh, those tasted gross…”  
“Yes, I know,” Keiji sighed. “That’s why I was distracting you.”  
I shook my head, trying to dispel the taste. I didn’t remember ibuprofen tasting that bad…  
“Anyway, um… I really can’t think of anything I’m allergic to…”  
“Then you really are lucky.” Keiji walked over to the desk at the back, looking through some papers. He found the one he was looking for, and made another note on it.  
“What’s that, Keiji?”  
“The inventory list I made of the medicines in here,” he said, turning back to me. “You should lie down and rest until the medicine kicks in. I’ll go have a word with Emi.”

As he headed out of the infirmary, I picked my legs up onto the bed, and wiggled until I got comfortable. I was starting to cool down a little, but more than anything… I was just tired. Maybe it’d be okay if I just took a nap here... After all, Keiji told me to get some rest…

Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.

\--

I was floating again, lost in that empty abyss my dreams had become.

But this time, I wasn’t alone. I couldn’t turn around to see him, but I felt his back against mine.  
“You really should be more careful,” Jirou warned me. “Trusting people so easily? You’re setting yourself up for pain.”  
“I don’t want to suspect everyone,” I replied. He laughed at me.  
“Didn’t Suzume and I teach you anything?”

A sharp crack sounded through my dream. I didn’t want to recognise it; I didn’t even know how I _did_ recognise it.  
It was the sound of bones breaking.

\--

I woke up hours later, from Keiji gently shaking my shoulder and saying my name. I rubbed my eyes and sat up.  
“I’m sorry to have to wake you,” he said, “but it’s getting late, and you should have something for dinner.”  
“Okay… where’s Emi…?” I mumbled, still not quite awake.  
“I explained about your temperature, and suggested I keep an eye on you for the rest of the day. She wasn’t happy, but she agreed.”  
“Oh…” I slowly got to my feet. “Has anyone else been here while I was sleeping?”  
“Jun came by for a moment to check if we needed anything, but that’s all. Why do you ask?”

I shook my head. “No reason… Should we get going?”  
Keiji paused, but in the end he just nodded, and walked me out of the building.

I looked up at the sky as we walked towards the restaurant. I was starting to wonder if the rain was ever going to fall; the clouds had grown darker, almost black now.  
“Have you got any idea what you’d like for dinner, Hazuki?” Keiji snapped me out of my thoughts.  
“Are you a good cook, Keiji?” I asked back with a smile. He laughed a little, and shrugged.  
“I mean, I’ve never had an issue with my cooking… but I’m not incredibly hard to please. When it comes to food.”  
He’d added the last sentence before I could comment.  
“Well… I’m not too hungry, so why don’t we keep it simple?”  
“If you like. I’ll see what I can do.”

The restaurant was quiet when we arrived. The kitchen, too – Nana must have come back and finished her work, because it was neat and tidy, with no dishes in the sink.  
Keiji had me sit by the counter while he worked on cooking. ‘Something simple’ turned out to be the very simple canned tomato soup, and we stayed in the kitchen to eat it.  
“I feel a lot better now,” I told him, during the meal. “I mean, I still don’t feel like myself, but at least I’m not all… boneless and overheated.”  
Keiji nodded. “It’s not the best thing to be feeling. If it weren’t for the Accelerator, it’d be easier to say if it was your body becoming ill, or just the effects.”  
“You looked pretty similar this morning. Were you feeling the same way?”

Keiji nearly choked on soup. He went red in the face, coughing into the back of his hand.  
“Ahem… That, uh… That was, well, somewhat different…”  
I tilted my head. “Oh… so it _was_ the other thing…”  
“I-I’m sorry, I don’t think this is an appropriate thing to discuss…”  
“I don’t mind.”  
Keiji shook his head. “I’d really rather not.”  
Oh well, I thought. I’d just have to fill in the gaps myself…

It was an interesting image.

The conversation drifted to other topics, mostly led by Keiji trying desperately to keep from mentioning his morning state. As for me, I grew more tired with every spoonful of soup. I could barely keep my eyes open when I finished.  
“Just sit there,” Keiji said, picking up the empty bowls. “I’ll quickly clean this up, and then we can go.”  
I nodded. I was too tired to even think for myself anymore; I just wanted to get into bed. It didn’t even matter if it was mine…  
Actually, I couldn’t help thinking, it might be fun to try someone else’s bed…  
I giggled softly to myself. Keiji, probably wisely, didn’t ask what I was laughing about.

\--

It was a small miracle that I was still awake when I got back to my room. Keiji bid me goodnight, leaving too quickly for any offers to keep me company.  
That guy was no fun sometimes…

I yawned. I barely wanted to make the effort to get ready for bed, but still, I dragged myself through the motions of getting into my pyjamas, putting my things nearby, and climbing into bed.  
A few seconds later…

“Good evening, honoured guests! It is now eleven p.m.! In one hour, all outer doors will be locked. Please return to your rooms, and sleep well!”

Just in time, I thought. It felt dreadful, being so tired… Before long, I fell into the waiting arms of sleep.

And for once, I dreamed.

It wasn’t incredibly distinct, this dream. It was similar to the not-dream I kept having here; I was floating in what I could only describe as nowhere. Normally it was black.  
This time, it was rose red.  
But it wasn’t a good dream. From out of the red abyss came several, disembodied hands. They grabbed me roughly around my arms and wrists, my legs and ankles. One gripped tightly around my throat, trying to cut off my air supply.

I wanted to scream; I tried to, but the hand on my throat only gripped me tighter. The red around me pulsed with electricity, in time with the heartbeat hammering in my ears.

I truly believed I was going to die.

\--

I woke up to the droning of the Accelerator Alarm. I shot up, wide awake, my hands going to my throat. There was nothing there, and I could breathe just fine.

Fine. I was fine.

I jumped out of bed, hurrying to get myself cleaned up and dressed. I couldn’t help checking my body for injuries; every part of me was fine. No bruises, no scratches.  
What the hell was that dream about…  
I had no choice but to put it out of my head. The Alarm wasn’t going to cease until we all showed up at the exchange meeting.

I eyed up the bracelet on my wrist. It’d be nice to be my normal self again, as mean as it was to inflict it on someone else…  
Once I was dressed and stocked, I hurried out of my room.

Today’s crash victim was someone new.  
I ran right into Hikaru’s chest, nearly knocking both of us down. He grabbed my arms, steadying me on my feet.  
“A-are you okay?”  
“Yes, yes I’m fine…” I dusted myself off. “Sorry… what are you doing here?”  
“I-I… I know I-I’m not, not supposed to… b-but I w-wanted to make sure y-you were… okay…”  
“I’m fine…” I repeated. “I’m just going to the exchange.”  
“C-can I… Can I w-walk with you?” He looked down at me with puppy eyes. Well, eye – I could only see one, after all.  
“I-I p-promise I w-won’t do anything… I w-won’t touch you, n-not even once…”  
“You don’t have to promise that…” I said gently, taking his hand in mine. “I don’t mind, after all…”  
Hikaru gasped softly. “I-I… I shouldn’t… l-let you do that…”  
“It’s okay.” I smiled. “No harm done, right?”

He was hesitant, but he nodded. We left hand-in-hand, with no more words exchanged.

\--

Hikaru made sure to let me go when we reached the main building. Only a couple of others had arrived before us; Ryuu and Kaoru were by the fountain, the latter looking temperamental and pouty. Shizuka sat opposite them, glaring daggers at whoever caught her attention. Yosuke sat cross-legged on the floor by a pillar, glaring back at her, while flanked by a sleepy Fuyuki and a fully-alert Ai.  
I headed over to sit next to Kaoru. She looked at me, sulking.  
“G-good morning?” I asked, and she snorted.  
“I guess… This bracelet thing sucks.”  
Ryuu sighed, shaking his head. “It’ll be over in a sec, don’t you worry.”  
“I’m not worried,” she snapped at him.  
She was always pretty, but something about her brooding face was really cute. I didn’t tell her, though; she looked like she wanted an excuse to get more upset.

We waited for the others to slowly filter in. Once it appeared that we were all there, Monokitty appeared with a cheer.  
“ _HELL YEAH! FULL CROWD!_ I knew you kittens would get excited sooner or later!”  
“We’re doing this out of obligation, you idiot,” Michiko snarled at the cat. “No one enjoys your sick little games.”  
“Well, I don’t know,” Monokitty said, with a giggle in its tone. “I’m sure you appreciate _some_ of the quirky charms that come with this one!”  
Michiko’s glare didn’t waver.

“Well, since we’re all here-ish, why don’t we get started?”  
“Wait,” Fuyuki looked up. “What on Earth does here-ish mean?”  
“Here-ish! It means there’s only one person missing! And she’s already had her turn, so she doesn’t have to be here until Round Two Reset!”  
I looked around the group. The only person I couldn’t see was…

“Where’s – “  
“ ** _SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH, WE’RE BUSY!_** ”  
I flinched away from Monokitty’s roaring, bumping into Kaoru.  
“Hey, watch it!”  
“S-sorry!”  
“Let’s see who’ll be taking the Rage Accelerator!” Monokitty quickly returned to normal, directing our eyes to the TV screen. The usual animation played, and we watched the chalk write the next name on the board.  
It was, perhaps, the least angry person in our midst.

Ryuunosuke Sasaki, leaving his grumpy girl’s side for ‘only a second, promise’, headed over to Yosuke’s spot on the floor. Yosuke, for his part, held the removed bracelet up as high as he could.  
Ryuu scooped it up with a quick “Thanks, dude,” and headed back to his seat, whistling as he clipped it onto his arm.  
We all waited for a sign of change. Monokitty especially, leaning forward with big, sparkling eyes.

But there was nothing. Not a drop of anger. Ryuu just smiled brightly at Monokitty.  
“Don’t we have stuff to do? C’mon, kitty cat, don’t keep us waitin’.”  
Monokitty growled. “You damn kittens are just the worst! Paranoia Accelerator, go!”

The chalk animation started writing next to Shizuka’s name. She watched the most intently, but gasped in horror when we read the name.  
“No! I will not have Michiko wear something that harms her!”  
“You don’t get a say in the matter, kitten! Hand it over, or I’ll bite her arms off!”  
Shizuka gasped again. It was as if… the easiest way to sway her like this was using Michiko.

The woman in question walked over to Shizuka, kneeling before her. “Come on, Shizuka. It won’t hurt me.”  
Shizuka sighed, defeated. “As you desire.”  
She slowly took the bracelet off, and put it on Michiko’s arm. Unlike Setsuko and Kaoru yesterday, there was a lot more… emotion, behind their exchange. Shizuka was extremely gentle with Michiko, holding her hand for a moment before letting go so she could stand.  
“How do you feel?” Shizuka asked her.

Michiko examined the bracelet, then looked down at her.  
“I… don’t really know.”

“ _MOVING ON NOW!_ Excess Accelerator! And let me say, you were _SO_ dull to watch, Nakajima!”  
“Go fuck yourself,” Kaoru replied. “I’m not here to entertain you.”  
“Such foul manners! No wonder no one respects you!”  
Kaoru flinched. Ryuu put his arm around her; his smile finally faded. The look on his face was so terrifying, even Monokitty withered under it.  
“I-I mean, uh! Next person, next person!”

We looked up at the TV screen. In the time all of that talking took, the name had already been written.  
Daisuke Nagasaki.  
He dragged his feet across the room. Hikaru watched him like a hawk when he got near me. For the most part, his focus was on getting the bracelet from Kaoru.  
His hands were shaking as he put it on. He was already afraid of what he was going to be like. Once it was on, he turned on his heel and moved back, as far from me as he could manage without leaving altogether.

“Okay, weird! What a fuckin’ weirdo, am I right!? Let’s get the Lust Accelerator moving now, shall we!?”

Yes, please. I stared intently at the screen.

But something strange happened. Instead of writing another name, the chalk piece circled my name three times, and tapped on the board.  
“Wh-what d-does that mean?” Hikaru asked.  
“Nyu, that’s weird… It’s supposed to change arms every time! I think?”  
“You _think_!?” Ai shouted. “You don’t actually know how this works!?”  
“Well, I didn’t _make_ them! I only found them!”  
“Then what do we do?” Setsuko asked. “What’s supposed to happen here?”

“Well, uh… I guess she keeps it ‘til the next exchange! Kind of sucks to be you, Satou!”

I felt sick in the stomach. I… had to keep it on? I didn’t… I couldn’t…  
“I-I don’t want to keep it!”  
“Nyu? Well, in that case, you have to find someone to formally petition me to exchange it! But I’m a busy cat, so I can only view such a thing in about, uh… four years in August!”  
“Please, that’s not fair!”  
Monokitty shrugged, and disappeared into the fountain with a laugh.

I wanted to cry. Kaoru, out of her pit of despair, rubbed my back.  
“Hey, it’s okay, sweetie,” she soothed. “We’ll just like, do what we did last afternoon, okay?”  
“That’s an issue,” Setsuko said, walking over. “Emi’s not here.”

I looked up at her. That was what I noticed before; Emi was the only one who didn’t show up, which was completely unlike her. She’d been present for all of these.  
“Until Emi turns up, I’ll keep an eye on you.”  
“The HELL you will!”

The sentence was shouted across the foyer. Setsuko turned around as Daisuke stormed forward, stopping only when he was right in her face.  
She folded her arms.  
“And I suppose you think we’ll put you anywhere near her when you’re wearing an Accelerator?”  
“I don’t give a fuck if it’s not me; As long as it’s not YOU!”  
“Dude, back up,” Yosuke warned, getting to his feet. “You don’t know what you’re doing – “  
“Shut your mouth,” Daisuke growled, pointing at him. “This has got nothing to do with you.”

I saw, out of the corner of my eye, Shizuka and Michiko slipping away towards the stairs again. At least they had the decency to look back, and look scared.

“Daisuke,” Setsuko spoke slowly, and firmly. “If you suddenly have a problem with me, by all means, speak your mind. But don’t you dare drag Hazuki into it.”  
“I didn’t drag her into anything. You drag her everywhere! Have you made her your replacement since you fucked up so badly with Suzume?”

I gasped, horrified. “Daisuke!”  
Setsuko froze. “… Excuse me.”

She pushed him out of her way, and stormed out of the building.

As the door slammed shut, Ryuu’s fist collided with Daisuke’s jaw.

He stumbled, swearing as he held his face.  
“You fucking sociopathic piece of shit! What the fuck were you thinkin’, sayin’ something that disgusting!?” Ryuu shouted at him.  
Daisuke didn’t answer. Keiji was between them in a second, holding his hand towards Ryuu.  
“Don’t touch him again,” the doctor warned. “I’m not abiding it. What he said was wrong, yes, but that doesn’t give you the right.”

I scrambled away from all of them, struggling to breathe. It was all happening so fast, and I could hardly think.  
A tiny hand curled around mine, and tugged me away towards the stairs.

“Nana…?”  
“C’mon, quickly,” she hissed. “Before it gets worse.”

\--

When we reached the second floor, a few steps away from the door, Nana turned to me. She fumbled in her pockets, producing a small pack of tissues.  
“You can cry if you want,” she said quietly. “I don’t care.”  
“I-I think I’m okay… Thanks for getting me out of there…”  
She folded her arms. I hadn’t realised it, but she’d already tucked Chouko away. “Yeah, well. You’re sweet and kind, and they were being pretty awful to each other. Let them for once.”  
“Nana…”  
“Where do you want to go? I can put you somewhere quiet and keep everyone else away until what’s-her-face turns up.”  
“You know her name’s Emi…” I scolded her, but she just shrugged.  
“Whatever, she’s weird. Where are we gonna hide?”  
“Well, um… do you know where the best spot is?” I asked. Nana nodded.

“Right this way.”

\--

She led me to the wardrobe, and down to the lower level. We ended up in front of the locked door at the back of the room. I turned to Nana, but before I could ask her what was going on, she took hold of the handle.  
Instead of turning it left or right, she pushed it straight down. I heard a soft _click!_ from the door, and gasped softly as it was pushed open.

“How did you…?”  
“Yuuma told me,” she answered as she slipped inside. “Quickly, before someone sees!”  
I hurried inside the room. Nana closed the door behind me, and I could hear her fumble around in the dark for the light switch.  
“What is this room, Nana?” I asked her, as the lights came up.  
“Don’t know,” she shrugged, “Some kind of storeroom?”

I looked around; it definitely seemed like a storeroom. There were more than a few shelves around, with differently labelled boxes and loose materials all over the place.  
I could tell Nana had been here before, however. She wandered over to the back of the room, where there was a large pile of fabric by the wall. It had been arranged into some kind of… nest?  
She turned around, waving to me. I crossed the room to her.  
“I take naps in here sometimes,” she whispered, “when I want to get away from everybody else. You can use it if you want. It’s very comfortable.”  
“Ah, are you… sure?” I asked, looking down at the pile.  
“Yeah, I’m sure. Just try it.”  
It was a little weird, but I didn’t want to hurt Nana’s feelings. Very carefully, making sure not to get my shoes on anything, I settled into the fabric nest.  
… It _was_ comfortable. Almost… unnaturally so. Whatever this fabric was, it was like nothing I’d ever felt before. But it was also… warm.

“Were you in here earlier, Nana…?” I asked, drifting off to a yawn. Nana tilted her head, looking confused.  
“No, I wasn’t. Why?”  
“This fabric is… is warm…”  
“Huh? Why is it…”  
Her voice drifted out of my head; I was still so tired, and the warmth and softness of the fabric nest was quickly lulling me to sleep.

\---

I woke up to an unusual sound. It was mechanical, coming from somewhere further in the storeroom. I pushed myself up; Nana must have put an extra sheet over me as a blanket while I was out.  
I looked around for the source of the noise, and spotted a glimpse of purple hair behind the stacks. Slowly, I got to my feet and walked over.

Nana was making good use of an oddly-shaped sewing machine. She didn’t look up as I got close, fixated on the adorable little gown she was making. Beneath the whirring of the sewing machine, I heard her hum a quiet melody.  
I took the opportunity to watch her work, hovering at her shoulder. She’d almost finished the gown entirely by the time she noticed I was there. She jumped in her seat with a little squeak, and I started laughing.  
“Don’t do that,” she grumbled. “That’s my thing.”  
“Sorry, Nana… I didn’t want to interrupt.”  
“You wouldn’t have,” she shook her head, setting the gown down. “I can talk and sew at the same time. I can’t now, though.”  
“Why not?”

She stood up, turning to me with a small glare.  
“Well, while you were sleeping, Yuuma came by and told me that when you woke up, I had to take you outside. Otherwise, he’d tell everyone about this spot.”  
“That seems a little harsh,” I bowed my head.  
“Well, it ruins any chance of me killing you,” Nana shrugged. “So you should be happy, right?”  
I shivered. “I… I guess…”  
Nana stared at me for a moment. “Are you hungry? I’m a little hungry.”  
My stomach answered for me; a low growl that almost echoed in the room. Nana nodded, and gestured towards the door.

As I put my hand on the doorknob, a strange anxiety set into my body. For some reason… I was suddenly very worried about what I’d find outside. My body cried out, begging me not to open the door. Nana tilted her head at me, narrowing her eyes.  
“What’s wrong, Hazuki?”  
“I… N-no, it’s nothing. I’m just… I feel a little strange…”  
Nana hummed. “You didn’t eat anything all day, so maybe it’s just you needing to eat.”  
That made sense. I gave Nana a small smile, and opened the door…

I wish I’d listened to my gut.

“What’s… that…?” Nana asked, at my side. We stared at the floor ahead of us; the aisle leading to the storeroom door had a long, thick, red smear all over it. A foul, metallic smell hit me, as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing.  
“It’s… I think it’s…”  
The smear was a trail. From a large pool of liquid right at the door, back towards a rack of beautiful gowns near the front. I carefully stepped over the pool, and made my slow way towards the end of it. The smell got stronger when I reached the rack.  
I watched my hand as I reached for the gowns. I was shaking, terrified. I looked back towards Nana; she hadn’t moved out of the storeroom, and stared at me with wide eyes.  
I swallowed hard. Maybe it was just a prank… but I still had to look.

Like tearing off a band-aid, I pulled the clothes on the rack apart…

What I saw was no prank. No matter how many times I closed my eyes and reopened them, it wouldn’t disappear.  
I recognised her immediately. I knew her white-and-red sweater, even stained as it was. I knew the notebook thrown haphazardly in her lap, even as pages were falling out of it. Her hands, her legs… Almost everything.

Emi Ikeda, the Ultimate Matchmaker, was dead…

… And her head was missing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy heck this Daily Life got away from me! But we got there in the end, so yay! Except somebody else had to die, boo...


End file.
